From Ashes, A New Empire

hen I gasped awake, my head throbbing from that familiar chemical fog – the drug

reams, the sickening smell of gasoline, and the crushing heat – this wasn't a nightmare, it was re

nizing this as the night, the precise moment everything twisted into a lifetime of agonizing obsess

o a meticulously set trap that not only cost me everything, but also my child, leavi

scrolled straight to Ryan' s number in Chloe' s contacts, hit dial, and rasped into the receiver, "Come get your gi