Page 16 of Ace of Shadows
“I don't… understand. There’s a hospital inside the Empire State Building?”
“No. That’s just our medical wing.”
Medical wing?
I must be dreaming.
“People don’t live here.”
“Yes, they do. Well, we do. Everyone else below us just works here, but we live here.”
“In the Empire State Building?”
“Yes.”
“Where you have a medical wing?”
“Yes. What are you not getting?”
My eyes narrow and I gaze back at the city unfurling below me like a rippling ocean. “I don’t understand what’s happening. Why did you even bring me out here?”
“You look like you needed some air.”
“What if I throw myself off?” The railing around the balcony is waist height at best.
“On that ankle?” Ruslan scoffs slightly. “Go for it.”
“I had no idea people could live here. My dad would—” My throat closes. In those brief minutes when pain and sickness took over, I forgot. I forgot about the plane crash, the cops, and my parents.
My lower lip trembles and the cold around me suddenly becomes biting. “What sort of game is this?” I ask weakly as tears warm my eyes. “What did I do to deserve this?”
“This isn’t a game,” Ruslan replies. “And only you can tell me what you did to deserve this.”
“I… youdruggedme and brought me here. Why?”
Ruslan’s face twitches like he’s debating on what he wants to tell me. After a moment of silence, he turns and leans back against the railing, watching me with his thick arms crossed over his chest.
“It’s safer for you here than anywhere else.”
“Why?” I ask hoarsely.
“Because people want you dead.”
“Why?”
“They think you crashed that plane.”
“I… why?” The tears well thick and fast, but they escape down my cheeks without a sob. “I haven’t d-done anything wrong my whole life.”
“Are you telling me the truth?”
I nod. “Why would I lie?”
Ruslan shrugs. “I drugged and kidnapped you. You have every reason to lie.”
“I…” My eyelids grow heavy and that black hole of grief in my chest spreads down to my guts. “Is it true? About… a-about my parents?”
Ruslan nods.
