Reborn To Tame The Insomniac Monster

her cheek first.

darkness. Clora gasped, her lungs seizing as she shoved herself up fro

sing in time with her heartbeat. The heavy oak door. The gilded mirrors

s r

o, no

This was the bedroom on the east wing, the one with the balcony that over

ough the thick wood of t

r. No one gets in or out without m

se

voice. It was the same voice that had

ure, unadulterated terror. Her muscles locked up, her teeth chattering so hard she thoug

into her skull li

ged herself forward. The feeling of her ribs cracking under a heavy boot. And then, standing over her, that face. Essex Langley, looking

d echoed in her dying

d. She was sitting on this freezing floor, her wrists throbbi

her plaid skirt. She stumbled toward the vanity, gripping

reflected

. Choppy, dyed hair that looked like a toddler had ta

lious punk phase she had adopted just to pi

d. If she followed the same path, if she fought him like she had befor

oor handle turning was the

a second, then kicked into overdrive, poundin

or swu

. His charcoal suit was perfectly tailored, not a single wrinkle, wrapping around a body that radiated pu

e of a frozen lake in the dea

ound of his leather shoes echoing in the silent room. Thud. Thu

The scent of his cologne-sandalwood and somethi

ilting her head back so she had no choice but to look up at him. His thumb pres

ed. His voice was devoid of any warmth. It wa

see the faint shadow of stubble along his jaw. The fac

s Go to hell were right there, sitting on the tip of her tongue. She wanted

again. The blood. The pain. T

ed by a survival instinct so primal it took over h

spilled over, tracking through the black eyeliner. She made he

ad expected her to throw herself at him, biting and scratching li

She swallowed hard, the motion pressing her thr

The pressure of his thumb on

The realization screamed in he

run again, Essex. Please... don't lock me in here." She forced an

ence stretched, thick and suffocating. He was di

r face. The sudden absence of his

The lethal edge was gone from his

e door clicked shut behind him. The soun

hands catching her before her face hit the floor. She stayed there on her hands

frantic, hammering beat of her heart beneath her palm. Alive. She was alive. The cold marble under her knees was real. The air in her lun

lips. It was a crazy sound, born of pure adrenaline and the wild

k on her heels. She looked at the

This time, she would play the game. She would smile, she would beg, she would do w

ng tom

e of her past. Tomorrow morning. The first c

e snake who would slither into this room pretendi

from her cheeks with the back of her ha

hispered to the empty room.