I pushed through the door and stepped out into the street, and whatever composure I'd been holding together inside that room came apart the moment the outside air hit me.
"Breaking people is how they pass the time."
Lucy's words were sitting in my chest like something with teeth. I couldn't shake them loose. Couldn't find the angle that made them hurt less or mean something different from what they plainly meant.
Mei was in there.
In Brigantine.
And I didn't even know what she was going through.
I pressed the heel of my hand hard against my forehead and stood very still in the middle of the street.
"Ryan."
Cindy came out behind me, moving fast, and her hand found my arm immediately. She looked at my face and her expression did what it always did when she was worried—softened and sharpened at the same time.
"She'll be okay," she said. "I'm sure of it."
"You heard what Lucy said," I replied. My voice came out rougher than I intended.
