She drew him along, with gentle but solid pressure on his shoulder as she turned to guide him down the hallway. She'd hoped finding him would quell her inner turmoil, but the fear and alarm only grew within her. Her heart was pounding as it never had before, tension thick in her arteries and the muscles of her neck and shoulders so that her entire body seemed to throb with each beat.

"Tell me," she said, her voice thick and hoarse, "what is in your thoughts right now?"