Nathaniel had been awake all night, the real

f bed, careful n

ing back at him had bloodshot eyes and the faint marks of

rying to wash away the night, trying to beco

dn't

ake. She was sitting up, clutching the sheet to her chest, her eye

aze m

n dawned.

architect of her misery. She saw the scratches

ough her mind-a dark silhouette, a rough

mbled backwards, pulling the sheet tighter,

im. The man she feared an

er eyes, and it felt like a f

r. "Chloe, listen to me.

ch me!" sh

bed a heavy crystal paperweight from

dding against his forearm with a sickening sound. A dark

never lef

he said, hi

rs, her torn wedding dress a testament to the night's viola

break for

, his hands closing around her wri

t him, beating against his chest with her f

me!" she sobbed, her vo

an embrace that was more like a cage, holding her tight so she couldn't h

hair, his own voice thick with a pain th

nergy spent, until she was just a tr