Page 11 of Legacy Ascended

“There.” She sits back on her heels. “I hope that holds.”

Then she gets up, washes her hands, and moves the tray within my reach.

She doesn’t tell me to eat. She pours herself more water and takes another bite of bread.

I watch her for another minute.

Then hunger wins.

The door opens hard enough to strike the wall.

A large man fills the doorway. He looks about forty, broad through the shoulders, with bloodshot eyes and both hands clenched at his sides. Benny is behind him, reaching for the door too late.

“Why wasn’t this locked?”

“Elise is treating her,” Benny says.

“That wasn’t my question.”

“Klaus,” Elise says. “Not now.”

His attention lands on me. His jaw tightens.

“My brother was one of the men you killed.”

The room goes still.

I don’t know which one his brother was. I remember the net, the poles, bodies moving through the grass. I remember fighting until the last dart took my legs out from under me.

“I’m sorry he’s dead,” I say.

“Are you?”

“Yes. But he came at me with a weapon.”

“He believed he was bringing you home.”

“He helped drag me into a van.”

Klaus takes one step into the room.

Benny moves with him. “That’s close enough.”

Klaus ignores him. “Four darts in you, bleeding through your clothes, and you were out of that van before the doors were fully open. You nearly reached the gate.”

“You kidnapped me. What did you expect me to do?”

“My brother expected you to understand once you got here.”

“Then your brother didn’t know me.”

His fists clench tighter.

I get to my feet. My side pulls beneath Elise’s fresh dressing, but I’m not staying seated while this man stands over me.

“If you came here hoping I’d apologize for surviving, you can leave.”

Elise rises between us. “Klaus, stop.”