warning. Isabella tried to drown herself in routine-checking charts, adjusting medicatio

n Mor

a man made of crimes and shadows, someone who should have been left to bleed out in the street. And yet... she h

r more than the d

tood at the far end of the hall. They weren't dressed like visitors, nor did they have the tired po

eath c

kind of presen

. But she wasn't fast enough. The door opened before s

ispered, panic s

d forward. She shoved the door o

e but no less commanding. His hand hovered near his bandages

cian ordered. His to

ldn't be alive, Moretti. M

ppeared as the str

This was madness-violence spilling i

was slow but deliberate, like a predator sizing up his prey.

an lu

" Isabel

sharply. Pain flashed across the man's face as the knife clattered to the floo

his voice a low growl. "But you forget

security. She should scream. But all she could see was Lucian-injured, bleed

her voice trembling. "This is

e, a darkness that belonged to another world. Then his gaze flicked

floor. The man collapsed, coughing, scrambling t

ly by the frantic pound

t his side. Isabella rushed forward, ca

guiding him back to the bed. "You

h his skin was ghostly pa

your life like that. You're-" Her words

't mean hiding. Men like me don't get peace, Isabella.

down, that saving him would cost her. B

ost like a warning. "Walk away now, and yo

eamed at her to run, but her soul whispered somethin

ly, her voice steadier than she fel

o the faintest smile. "No, angel. You're

m outside thundered as if th

bella realized her life

nto his world of

was no tur