Page 17 of Blacklist

“Promise?” She turns wide, round eyes on me.

“I never make promises,” I say quietly. Promises are too easy to break even when you don’t mean to. I’d rather lie than break a promise.

“Please?” The request is so small, so desperate that all my reasons go out the window.

I know I’ll never be able to keep it, but I say it anyway. “Promise.”

Davidson General is packed considering it’s nearly midnight. It’s the first sign that Nashville might be a real city, after all. A dozen or so people wait in uncomfortable chairs under harsh fluorescent lights for their turn to be seen. The hospital smells like bleach and hopelessness, as though it’s been scrubbed free of not just germs but life altogether. I consider offering to carry Adair again but I know she’d never allow it. Still, I can’t help but stare at her bare feet as she makes her way across the linoleum floor to the help desk.

“I’m here for the MacLaines,” she tells them. “My brother… called me.”

The crack in her voice breaks me open and it’s all I can do to barricade the memories threatening to flood from me.

“There should be information soon.” The woman doesn’t look up from her files. Business as usual. “Have a seat.”

Adair pauses and I expect her to unleash unholy fury upon her. She doesn’t. Instead, she starts toward a bank of blue plastic chairs.

“Where’s your brother?” I ask, joining her.

“D.C.” A hysterical edge taints her words. “He’s interning for Senator Woolritch. He lives there with his fiancée.”

I didn’t expect this. I thought she had someone waiting for her. But she’s alone, left to wait for answers. How long will that take? Minutes? Hours?

“He’s getting the first flight out,” she explains.

“I’ll stay with you,” I say, surprising both of us.

“You don’t have to do that. Poppy texted. She’s on the way with…”

I stop listening. Her friends are sobering up. She doesn’t need me, and I can’t blame her. But it chafes a bit, especially since I can’t leave until they get here. “Then I’ll wait until she gets here.”

Indecision races over her face before her expression settles into a mask of indifference. “Suit yourself.”

Fine. It’s easier than pretending or making small talk. I can sit here and ignore her. In the chairs across from us a woman cradles a toddler, murmuring things we can’t hear before kissing his forehead. She brushes his downy hair from his eyes and begins to hum softly. Adair watches them with hungry eyes like all she wants is to climb into the mother’s lap and be small and safe again. My arm’s around her before I consider what I’m doing. I stiffen, expecting her to slap me or jerk away, but she settles against me. I breathe in her scent, but I don’t let myself kiss her forehead. I don’t know where the boundaries are between us. We’re racing too fast into unknown territory. I can’t afford to cross the line.

“What if…” She doesn’t finish the thought.

I don’t need her to. This is nothing more than survival for her.

“Close your eyes,” I command her. “Take a nap. When you wake up, everything will be fine.”

She peeks up at me from behind thick, black lashes. “Promise?”

I sell my soul for a second time, hoping it’s not a lie, and nod.

* * *

A gentle hand shakes me, and I startle to find tired eyes staring down at me. Deep lines etch the man’s face but he wears a comfortable smile.

“Son?” His accent is so thick it takes a second for me to process. He presses a finger to his lips, nodding down.

Adair is tucked against me. Her chest rises and falls with a gentle tempo. We’d fallen asleep. I have no idea how long we’ve been here.

“Has there been any news?” he asks.

I shake my head, wondering who he is. He can’t be her father. Or brother. There’s no way we’ve been asleep long enough for him to reach us. Plus, this guy is too old. Maybe he’s her grandpa?

“We’re here now. You can leave,” he says.