sleep t

ard those words again. She's too

hey didn't know how right they were. And if Adrian listened, if he pushed even

raw, my body trembling fr

when she clung to me. She was pale today, but her cough had softened. I tol

her small, warm hand against mine. Her dark eye

s into what I hoped was a reassurin

the cold. It w

int of passing cars that made my pulse stutter, in the hushed whispers of neighbors who had noticed the sle

my lips pressed against her skin as if I could absorb her warmth, her innocence, her life into me. My

nch, my heart leaping into my throat, expecting him to walk in. But hours passed, and

or the disappoin

ears, I slipped into the storage room just to breathe. Just five minutes.

precariously against the walls. I leaned back against o

I opene

as t

s black suit immaculate despite the grime of the room. The cramped space seemed too small, too thin, to hold h

ietly, his gaze fixed on m

d. My palms went

e the way a predator studies its prey not out of hunger

low, thoughtful, threaded with something I couldn't name. "Stronger

mach l

tle and hollow. "What

n't soften. "Don't lie to me." His voice dropped

s digging crescents into my skin. The

I said, the words breaking on my tong

ell. For a long moment, silence stretched between us, heavy, suffoca

steppe

oxicating, the kind of presence that could silence a room without a word. He didn't to

uiet, but it carried weight, that dangerous softness that m

ide-eyed, believing every promise he whispered in the dark. Believing I could change him. Tha

alked away, my heart bleeding, swear

to demand anything from me." My voice shook, b

hungry, unrelenting. There was no so

see abo

ng the scent of him behind, the echo

own on me, heavy, suffocating. My knees buckled, and I sank agains

closi

told, every fragile thread holding my li

knew it was only a matter of time bef