denied a targ

threw it open with a crash. Cold w

he roared, his face a mask of fury, "the

p brutal. He was stronger.

, offered no resistance. He dragged her across t

d. Sharp gravel bit into her kn

oking down at her. His eyes were cold, me

own her since she was a child, turn

hat could curdle milk. F

it sped away, kicking up a spray of mud t

er knee a hot, pulsing thing. She didn't

nning. The Montgomery

fresh wave of agony through her right knee, aggrava

cent silhouette of Montgomery Manor. H

e began

One foot in front of the other. She ignored the curi

worse things. A beating in the dark. A burn from

d from behind, heavier and more

icker of a desperate, childish impulse to

llowed

of anyone anymore. She

painful pace. The emblem on its door was a wolf's head, rendered in stark, intimidating li

leather glove push

ged from ice. Platinum blond hair

istair

rp second. The man she had once looked up to.

of a second on her bleeding knee. His expression was a blank sl

silence, his quiet agreeme

n her mouth, lowered her eyes, and dip

as cold as his

request. It w

e said softly, her voice steady. "But my station

. A refusal he couldn't argue wit

ible tightening. The temperature inside th