Page 42 of Echos and Empires
“Better be,” Chris answered, his eyes like burning coal, reflecting the enormity of all they might discover.
Alex’s voice broke in, colored with a mix of doubt and anticipation. “I can’t imagine a medical facility would have a useless thumb drive.”
“We’ll know soon enough,” Bash said, each word clipped with impatience and readiness.
The men encircled Emma like an unbreakable wall, shadows elongating around them in the dying light. Their steps were swift, urgent, as if trying to outpace the fears that hunted them. The house came into view, a silhouette of safety and knowledge against the darkening sky.
Chris pulled Emma even closer, the echo of a thousand unspoken words hanging in the air between them. He was still amazed, the feeling thrumming in him like a second pulse. He couldn’t quite believe she was here, alive, with them.
They reached their house quicker than he thought possible, and Chris was already mentally sifting through plans, prioritizing the chaos of emotion and strategy into something coherent, actionable. “First thing,” he said, breath huffing between determination and relief, “we see what’s on that drive. If you did what you said you did, we’re safe enough for now.”
They piled inside, urgency following like a shadow, the unknowns unraveling before them in a knotted thread of danger and possibility.
The house envelopedthem in shadows and relief. Liam’s eyes went straight to Emma, scanning her like a cautious machine for signs of damage. “You really are okay,” he murmured, disbelief and love tinging each word with fragile wonder. Her unbroken state seemed to surprise him, a gift unexpected. He kissed her hand, the gesture delicate, tender, a question in the guise of an answer.
“Liam, I’m fine.” Emma’s voice was steady, wrapping around his doubt and easing it like a soothing balm.
He held her hand as if it might disappear, as if she were a mirage on the horizon of his fear. “But they had you.”
“Not for long.” Her smile was soft but firm, anchoring him back to the reality he wanted to believe in.
He shook his head, the movement disbelieving but hopeful, like a man waking from a nightmare into the safety of day. “You’re not hurt. Not even a scratch.”
“I’m right here.” Emma met his eyes, her sincerity a beacon that guided him through the fog of his anxiety. “I’m with you. All of you.”
He drew her into a gentle embrace, afraid that holding too tightly might shatter the illusion of her safety. “When Alex came back and Chris bellowed…”
“I was getting away.” She hugged him back, reassuring, her touch grounding him like gravity to a drifting balloon.
Liam released a shaky breath, his relief settling over him like a blanket. “I kept seeing it,” he confessed, his words the barest thread of a whisper. “Kept seeing you in trouble, and us not making it in time.”
“Well, you did. I got away. You found me. It worked.” She stroked his cheek, the contact electric, charging his doubt with warmth.
“You’re amazing.” Liam leaned into her touch, absorbing the sensation like a man starved of comfort. He kissed her forehead, the act anointing them both with the promise of safety.
“I think I could say the same about you,” she said, her laugh an unexpected spark in the gloom of the past hours. “Or at least try to.”
He shook his head again, but this time there was more light in the gesture. More acceptance. “Hard when we almost lost you.”
“Promise you won’t,” she replied, the words holding more weight than their brevity suggested.
Liam exhaled deeply, letting go of the last threads of panic. “I’ll hold you to that,” he said, the vow binding them in the quiet, in the room, in the stillness that followed the storm.
His fingers traced the outline of her hand, memorizing its solid, real presence. Emma gave him a soft, lingering smile, one that promised many tomorrows. They stood together in the certainty of the moment, in the rarefied air of a narrow escape.
“You’re not getting rid of me,” she said again, the statement a lighthouse in the sea of what-if.
Liam believed her this time. Fully. Completely. He nodded, drinking in the sight of her, the feel of her. Everything seemed to narrow down to this.
Emma was safe. Emma was here.
He held her close, marveling at the fact of it, at the enormity of this gift. The gift of her, unbroken.
“Besides, there’s better news coming. We just need William.”
Liam’s lips curved into a smile. She didn’t know they knew about the twins. He wouldn’t steal that from her. She might kill Alex though.
“Computer room. Now.” Chris barked. “Emma, we’re going to make sure every inch of you is exactly as it was when you left. After.”
