I strained my ears, hearing the faint sound of footsteps on the stairs, coming closer and passing by our hiding place. The closet was warm, too warm, it was stifling. I couldn’t move. I was trapped. How long would we have to stay in here? “Take it easy,” Kade breathed in my ear, his voice a bare whisper of sound. His hands settled on my hips. “Breathe.” I closed my eyes—not that it made a difference in what I could see, it was so dark—and tried to concentrate on breathing. I felt Blane’s fingers curl over mine as he took my hand. Only then did I realize that tremors shook my whole body. I was breathing too fast and too shallow. Hyperventilating. I felt the same way I had in the ambulance. It was hard to concentrate. And when I opened my eyes, I kept seeing the faces of the men who’d taken me, felt the horror of being utterly at their mercy. In some detached way, I knew I was fighting a flashback and panic attack, but that didn’t mean I could stop it. Kade’s arm curved around my stomach, holding me tight.
