Page 304 of The Professor's Wife

“You have to fight for them,” she confirms, and then she wraps her arms around me. I feel her warmth, her embrace tight and full of love. I shut my eyes and hug her back. It feels like home. It feels like peace. It feels like happiness and all the beauty I’ve missed about existing.

“Stay in the light,” she whispers, and I know she’s going to leave me. I hold her tighter, begging her with my touch to stay with me. “Stay in the light, Daisy, and save them.”

CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN

I opened my eyes.

There was a stillness inside me as I peered around my little nook. At the shelves of books. I could hear the clock ticking. Everything was as it was. As it should be.

I went to grab my latest read, but my hand paused. For the second time, I held back. Images of my dream flooded through me in rapid succession. My body trembled at the memory of Rowe’s tiny form, his body covered in butterflies. I swallowed hard and turned my sights to the bookshelf. I skimmed the titles, waiting for something to jump out.

Immediately, my eyes found the bookmark hanging out of a leather-bound book. A metal bookmark in the shape of an orange butterfly. I wondered if the butterflies appeared because of this very bookmark. If…If I opened the book to where that bookmark was sitting…I might find an answer to this madness.

I am mad.

I must be.

It was just a dream, after all.

I pulled out the book and took a deep breath. I didn’t allow time to prepare myself. I opened the book to the exact spot of the bookmark without reading the title. But I knew the book. I knew it like the back of my hand. Oliver had made sure of it.

I didn’t need to search the page. My eyes landed on the passage that shattered my heart and turned my fear into steely determination.

The prisoner had left the cave. The world beyond it was colder, but for the first time, he could see the stars.

Welcome out of the cave, my friend. It’s a bit colder out here, but the stars are just beautiful.

I looked up from the book, and all I saw was Rowe. Tiny Rowe. Covered in butterflies.

No, he would not become faceless.

Neither would the others.

I closed Plato’s book and hugged it to my chest.

Come to the light,June had said.Save them.

CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT

Oliver’s breakfast was nearly finished. I removed the butter from the fridge and set it on the table with a butter knife at the ready when his gruff voice cut through the air.

“Smells good.”

His arrival was expected, but a zap of awareness cut through me anyway. I straightened my body and looked over my shoulder at him. He was working from home today, but he’d showered and dressed in casual slacks and a polo shirt. I hated the ensemble. I hated everything that he wore.

Before he could cross the kitchen to me, I said, “I’m feeling a little off right now. I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going?”

“The bathroom.” I zipped past him, catching his bewildered expression. I threw over my shoulder, “The food is on the table and ready.”

I didn’t wait for his response as I dashed into the nearest bathroom at the end of the hall and closed the door behind me. I stood in front of the sink, taking deep breaths. I tried to steady my heart, but it wasn’t going to happen. I gripped the sink rim tightly and stared at myself in the mirror. My eyes were wide with fear. Anxiety made my vision spin, so I closed my eyes and took measured breaths.

“It’s okay,” I whispered. “You got this, Daisy.”

What I was about to do meant there was no turning back. I was going to break the fucking cycle, but I was aware that I might not come out of it alive. Despite that dream, there was no guarantee this was going to even work, but I knew one damn thing:

I wasn’t going to die as his perfect prisoner.