“I feel the same way. I miss him, too.” And she did.

Under the guise of Kere, Darling had been everything to her.

Maris cupped her face in his hands. “I should warn you, when he came back after his first assault, he was angry like he is now.”

First? There had been more than one? She wanted to cry over that disclosure.

But Maris didn’t pause to elaborate. “Think of him like an animal in the wild. You have to move slow around him, and let him know you’re not going to hurt him. He’s in raw survival mode. It’s not that he wants to hurt others as much as he wants to protect himself from harm. So he’s liable to strike out verbally. Pay it no attention. He will be sorry for it later. Right now, he’s just in pain, and he’s acting out. Take nothing he says or does personally.”

“Okay.”

His gaze intensified. “Remember, he’s not really attacking you. It’s the world he wants to punch. You have to be strong and don’t back down from him.”

Instead of making her feel better, this “pep talk” was beginning to make her want to run for cover.

Maris kissed her cheek. “You ready?”

“I’m scared.”

“Me, too. Now don’t forget that he’s not what he was. He’s changed a lot. But if we stand together, I think we can still get him back.”

She hoped so. It’d been well over a year since she’d last held him, or heard him ask if she’d eaten anything.

No man had ever treated her the way he did.

Like she mattered.

Come back to me, Darling.

Maris tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow and led her from his room.

With every step they took closer to Darling’s office, the more nervous she became. Her hands were clammy and her heart pounded in trepidation. It was so loud, she was amazed Maris couldn’t hear it.

How would Darling react to her presence? She saw various scenarios in her mind, but none of them were particularly favorable to her.

I can’t believe I slapped him.

Twice…

She wanted to cry every time she remembered that. I didn’t know who he was. But that was only an excuse, and she knew it. Did it really matter who had been held in chains? What kind of person would hit someone who’d been so damaged while in their custody?

The fact that she hadn’t even seen him enough to register his ragged condition before she’d attacked him bothered her most of all.

Deep inside, she was as disappointed in herself as he’d been. Yes, she could make excuses. She’d been worried about Kere. She’d been focused on her pain and not his…

But in the end, wasn’t that the very thing she and her allies accused the ruling class of? The thing the Resistance had condemned them for? Being numb to others who were suffering right before their eyes? Not caring about their pain?