Rain pours down my face.
Or maybe tears.
I honestly can’t tell anymore.
“What if she was telling the truth?”
The words nearly destroy me saying them out loud.
Clay goes still.
I force myself to continue.
“What if Wu kept me alive because there’s something wrong with me?”
My voice shakes violently now.
“What if I became exactly what they wanted?”
“Sweetheart, you escaped their evil clutches. That is how you survived.”
The storm rages around us.
Children crying nearby.
Flood sirens echoing through Bucharest.
But suddenly it feels like there’s only us standing there on the river ladder.
Clay’s hands slide firmly around my face.
Cold rain dripping from his hair.
Blue eyes locked completely onto mine.
“Hannah.”
His voice is low.
Steady.
Certain.
“They tortured a little girl until she forgot herself.”
My throat tightens painfully.
“They conditioned you.”
“They manipulated you.”
“They tried to turn survival into obedience.”
His thumb brushes gently beneath my eye.
“But you know what you did instead?”
I can barely breathe now.
