Chapter 1
The carpet in the study had been torn to shreds.
I crouched around the corner of the hallway, staring at the half-open mahogany door.
The room beyond it was deathly quiet.
Only a cold, damp, metallic smell seeped through the crack.
Three minutes ago, I'd slipped out of my bedroom to get some water.
Then I'd heard bones shifting behind that door.
The sound changed the air.
The doorknob slowly turned.
I didn't wait to see what came out.
I ran.
I sprinted back to my bedroom and slammed my hand against the electronic lock.
The door had barely sealed when I heard footsteps behind me.
Steady.
Controlled.
Nothing like the violent pounding I'd heard inside the study.
These steps were precise. Almost light.
Like a predator patrolling its territory.
He came in.
Cassian stood behind me.
One button on his shirt was fastened wrong. A jagged tear ran across his cuff, exposing bloodied skin beneath it.
He didn't say a word.
His gaze swept over the ruined carpet.
Then stopped at my bare ankle.
I froze.
Cassian raised one hand.
His fingertips stopped barely an inch from the side of my neck.
I saw his long, elegant fingers trembling.
There was even a dark stain along the edge of one nail that hadn't come clean.
Cassian forced his hand back to his side.
Then he turned and walked away, every movement unnaturally stiff.
The door closed.
I looked down at my heel.
The blister I'd rubbed raw yesterday was covered with a waterproof bandage.
I hadn't put it there.
There hadn't been one in the slippers I'd taken off last night, either.
Slowly, I reached into my sleeve and pulled out the dinner knife I'd slipped there in the kitchen.
The cold metal bit into my palm.
Six tomorrow morning.
I'd have one chance.