a single lock of black hair fell across his forehead. It was him. Not a box of cold ashes, but w

desperate adoration. His eyes narrowed, searching her face for the angle, the manipulation she must be planning.

The paper fluttered down onto her lap. It was an acceptance letter from a military-style reform

ilent. They weren't tears of fear, but of a grief so profound it f

sper, a sound he hadn't heard

n her wrist loosened fractionally. A flicker of something-confusion, a long

skin. He leaned in close, his face inches from her

that pathetic act with me. Yo

astating combination of sorrow and love. The purity of it, the sheer, unadulterated emoti

ead of his r

de her head, the impact reverberating through the wood. His body cag

e? You belong to me. Your future, your body, every breath you take-mine. You try to run ag

e fury. His hand snatched the torn plane ticket from the floor and he r

hat happen?" A bitter, humorless laugh escaped him. "You're no

door, Darien pacing the room, his fists clenching and unclenching as he fought for control. He did

Asha woke on the floor where she had finally fallen asleep, her b

of her wrist. More marks, reddish-purple and damning, stained the skin above h

he one she had bitten open last night. The wo

der, but closed. No scab, no s

too fast for

er mentor Silas Croft had taught her to cultivate. A flicker of cold satisfaction passed through

the scattered pieces of the plane ticket near the door. Kinsley's "proof" that she had bee

was eighteen. Her face was younger, softer, but her eyes... her eyes

m, taking a slo

eal. She

ared her, and she still ended up in the reform school. Kinsley had built a longer game tha

motion, muscle memory from a decade of being 'X,' one of the world's most feared anonymous hackers. In under t

matching call from yesterday:

minutes and t

ut enough. Brenda's voice, tinny through the compression: "The

ke sure he finds them. And if she tries to

secure cloud locations. Then she wiped

ressed, she caught sight of the marks on her skin in the mirror again. A flush of heat crept up

raw, absolute possession in his voice when he said You belong to me... it

e of cool resolve. She had to face him. The sober, regre

r. It was time to