scraping at my door

e was

g to

, spinning through every possibility-none of them good. Damon's e

t my ribs so hard I tho

art of me screamed to run. My hands shook violently. The contract, the pent

instinct, but my trembling

tak

t. Like everything else in my life, it had been s

up my throat,

m for help, but even in my fear I knew better. This wasn't a hotel. This

tproof glass. A cage dr

ing sound

le

barely daring to breathe. Time stretched

h

tst

pproa

di

en there... th

or ho

t there for hours, knees to my chest, staring at the door like it might burst open at any second.

y gave up. Sleep found me huddled in the corne

nightmare

elt like

-ceiling windows, casting the room

he sound of

ha

orm rumpled, face pale when he saw m

s?" His vo

s aching from the cold floor, my e

was hoarse. Raw. "Tell

hesi

wa

e you." His eyes droppe

rength. "You knew. You knew someone ca

ings you don'

I shoved past him. His

he executioner. My skin crawled with fury and fear, my fist

waiting for answers.

s wai

nd his back, the morning light haloing him like he belong

How composed. Like the world outside the

" My voice cracked under the weight of the night I

kno

wo

tire body

u k

hed it

is words hit m

you did

pression was unreadable. But his eyes..

ow if they'd

him. Anything to shatter

" My voice broke. "You l

you d

shattered me mor

y head in disbelief. "Yo

le

held answers more terri

your pr

voice was

what

d in his gaze. I don't know what I ex

I got was

e the

lted. My bre

o.

w and deliberate. "I said staying near me was your saf

ut. "Why me? Why

t time, his perfect mask crac

you look

s though he'

y voice

A shadow passed o

wi

fr

wi

now you wer

ot any

appened

came like d

as mur

ng in the ai

y. F

d they thi

nodded

onnected to her death.

unable to hold me. I felt n

t a subs

dn't

e leve

ed to

of my skin and run

to protect me,

tecting

ion. I let them fall

ence told m

A flicker of regret. So fast

." His voice was qu

Slowly.

let

can

y n

words des

follow you. And I

. My entire body

ing me," I

n't de

usted

asked f

more than I t

n't care where I went. I didn't care if death w

mm

on

dle. Freedom wasn't real,

words chained

, I can't kee

d. Slowl

ast time. At the man

nally un

't his

t his p

his