Chapter 37
Evelyn
Unknown Location
Dark. Cold. Silence thick as a bruise. The first thing I feel is the throb behind my eyes—dull, pounding, nauseating. Then the pressure of restraints digging into my wrists. Then the suffocating stillness of the room. And then—Her.
“Finally awake, sweetheart? “Grace’s voice drips down my spine like poison. I try to speak, but my throat is sandpaper.
My limbs are numb. Panic blooms cold behind my ribs.
She steps into the sliver of light, her silhouette too perfect, too luxurious for a place that smells like rot and dust. “Don’t worry,” she says softly. “You won’t be here long. Just long enough for Alexander to understand what it feels like to lose everything.”
She crouches next to me. Her perfume is overwhelming—jasmine mixed with something sour, like spoiled fruit. Too sweet. Too wrong. “You made him soft.” Her finger trails down my cheek. “But I’ll make him bleed.” She rises, heels striking the wooden floor in cruel, deliberate rhythm—tick. tick. tick.
The sound of a countdown. Then the door slams, and I’m left in the dark. Breathing too fast. Heart trying not to break. Trying not to scream. Trying to survive.