They needed to know where I was going, so I turned to Thomas. “I need to find Amanda.”

He nodded and pressed a hand to his ear, speaking into his other hand at the same time. The new guard nodded and headed down a separate hallway. When we went past the exit door, I figured he knew where to go, so I kept following until we got to a back area. The music had faded, and there were fewer people in the hallway. The farther we went, the hallways grew lighter and lighter until I couldn’t hear the music at all anymore. Only two staff people passed us going the opposite way, and they frowned at us, but didn’t say a word. One girl had a black shirt tied in a knot underneath her breasts. The guy with her had a matching shirt on, and as I looked back, I could see the word SECURITY on the back of it.

“Here.”

The new security guard was at a door, but Thomas stepped in front of me, holding me back. The other guards went outside, shutting the door behind them. We waited for a moment until a soft tap sounded on the door, followed by a succession of three more taps.

“She’s outside, Miss Emma.” Thomas moved to stand guard against the door.

“You’re not coming out?”

He shook his head, pressing his hand to his ear again. “She’s coming out. Mitchell, come back inside.”

I heard a soft voice from his ear saying, “Coming.” Then the door opened, and Mitchell waited for me to step through.

This was normal protocol. I don’t know why I was surprised. As I stepped outside into a back alley, I found Amanda with her jaw hanging down. She leaned against the wall with her phone still in her hand.

I looked around at the guys. They’d positioned themselves ten feet from us at both ends of the alley, and Michael took point at the door. They were all going to be able to hear, which meant this would be reported to Carter—which you should’ve done yourself by now, an inner voice reminded me.

“Is something going on?” Amanda asked me, straightening from the wall.

“I came out to talk to you.” And not with them. I studied the guards. The conversation I needed to have—it couldn’t happen. Plan B. “Don’t say what you were going to say to the person on the other end of that phone.”

“What?” She looked at her phone, her forehead wrinkling.

“The phone call you left to make—don’t do it.”

She showed me her phone, and I read the name, Shelly, on the screen. “To her?”

“No. Is that who you’ve been talking to this whole time?”

She grew sheepish, glancing down at the ground and biting the inside of her cheek. “I chickened out.”

“Oh.”

“I will. I promise—”

“No, don’t. I…” What could I say here? “Don’t.”

“But…” She gave the guards a meaningful look.

“I know. I’ll fix it. I’ll make it work somehow.” By leaving you, but I couldn’t say that. That wouldn’t be a topic of discussion. It was just going to happen, and by the time they realized it, I’d be gone. It would be done. I’d need help with Carter, but that was for another day. “I promise. I’ll make it right,” I told her.

“How?”

I shook my head. “Who’s Shelly?”

“My coworker. I was asking if she could take over some of my workload for next week.”

“Oh.” I felt a tiny bit foolish. “Okay.”

She skirted between me and the door, then asked, “You hurried out here to tell me that?”

I nodded, feeling my throat tighten. I rasped out, “Yeah.”

“Do you mean it?”

“I do.” A little hole had formed in my chest, and I felt it growing as this conversation continued.

“Thank you, Emma.”

I couldn’t talk. I knew what this meant, what I was saying. Even if I changed my mind, she might not be willing to end it with Brian. Love was powerful. I had been given a blessing. Amanda had felt a moment of weakness, but it wouldn’t come back. I could see the relief in her eyes. It was so strong. She loved this guy with everything in her, and Amanda had never loved a guy before. She’d dated a couple, but that had been it. There’d been no mention of love. My soul mate couldn’t be the reason she had to give hers up, and I hoped, right now, that he’d be that to her—her soul mate.

I was giving my family up for him. He’d better goddamn well be.

“Theresa and Noah are still inside?” she asked.

I nodded. “We should go back.”

Amanda grabbed my arm. “I mean it, Emma. Thank you.” She pulled me in for a hug and murmured, “I really love him, a lot.”

I hugged her back. “I know you do. I can see it.”

And then the ground shook underneath us, and a force hit us, throwing us to the ground. I looked up, my ears ringing, and saw one of the guards standing over me. I couldn’t hear anything. I couldn’t feel anything either. Everything was numb at first, and I tried to look for Amanda, but then the pain hit me.

I sat up, coughing as more and more pain sliced through me. It felt like a thousand knives were trying to cut their way out of me. Feeling wetness on my hand, I held it up and saw blood. Then the ringing almost doubled.

But I heard one shout, one word, come through it: Bomb.

The pain didn’t subside. It felt like I’d been lying there for hours before Thomas reached down and picked me up. He started running somewhere with me, but where was Amanda? I tried to look around for her. When I couldn’t see her, I tried hitting Thomas’ chest to get his attention. He ignored me and kept running. With each step he took, pain jackknifed all through me. I kept coughing up blood. I needed Carter.