abbed Ava' s arms, t

hrough her

with us," one

renity Pines. Back to the darkne

face a mask of c

f something posse

with you," Liam said, hi

off several hundred-dollar bill

out of my building.

n snatched the money a

va' s arm, his fingers digg

the elevators, ignori

his private office. The view of the city was breathtaking,

he torn clothes, the raw ligature marks on he

know the truth of her torture. It would sh

st some rough nights out in Eur

e contorted

ceived promiscuity, it was all salt i

ll. His face was inches from

ssed. "You think you can just wal

n her eyes, but he

words designed to inflict maximum pa

ttered. Another

a tool for my anger. A way to work off the debt you

the wall, the fight

to stay free, just a little longer. For

r tracing a path through

y, L

r, disgust cle

es she' d escaped in, w

he one closest to her

d his name, Liam, over and over again into her own flesh. A desperate, painful litan

. Chloe' s sacrifice

Tell them I was weak. Let them remember me clea

the brutal reality of what awaited them. To spare Ava further trauma, to spare Liam a

line in the abandoned war

rs streaming down her face. "But you' ll know, Ava. You'

a towards a collapsing section of wall, towards

kept her

hat she' d panicked and fled, leaving Chloe behin

onumental. His hatred fo

out of my sight! I neve

wanted her "away," unable to bear the sight of the person he blamed for his sister's death.

r shield. It kept him f

hloe' s s