ld into a gray blur. The private road leading

d. A massive oak tree, a casualty o

ng on his neck. He turned the wheel, guidi

s a m

. The wheels spun, whining high and shrill, flinging mud against the wheel

he face of it, his brow furrowing. "We

umbers into his phone. "No signal. The

e of the slope, the depth of the mud, the text

y," she sa

linking. "Miss Van

instantly, soaking her cheap gray hoodie, plastering h

he driver. It was a specific look, one

crambled out

ck. She adjusted it. Her hands gripped

ole. Her finger hovered over the t

gripped the handle abov

he tapped the gas pedal, feathering it, feel

hard to the left, against logic. The car's rear

ers g

lammed the wheel to the right and floored the accelerat

The tires found the one patch of solid earth b

. Serena corrected the steering with a minute flick of her wris

y sec

turned around. She offered C

," she

w physics. That wasn't luck. That was precision. The kind of precision he'd

said, his voice tig

ike he'd seen a ghost. Serena climbed back

Vance estate, the main house loomed out of t

f waiting under umbrellas. She felt nothing. She had slept in palac

let her jaw drop slightly. She

big," she

vy double doors of the house began to open