t loud, but it woke Bella instantly. She had

eat had collected along his receding hairline. He tossed a simple, gray maid's uniform onto the bed. In

he said. It w

ked, scrambling to pull on t

uesti

curtains were drawn, keeping everything in a perpetual twilight. The staff they p

t Wing, the sounds began. A low, guttural roarin

eading up to the double doors. He shoved the si

Hansel said. H

nt me to go in there? He sou

eclusion for months, and he never bothered to look at your file. He knows us. He knows the guards.

ella said, s

ontract, Miss Miller. If you don't go up those stairs, I make a call. Your

. It was a checkmate. She looked at the

she wh

making the teacup dance in its saucer.

run. The roaring grew louder. She could hear words n

were ajar. The smell hit her first-stale w

t. The hinge gave a muffled groan, the

ed had been stripped of its linens. An antiqu

here

pe of tension, muscles coiled tight like steel cables. Scratches marred his skin, self-inflicte

of broken glass. She took a step. A shard

spun

wide. There was no recognition in them, only a raw, animalisti

l blow. He clapped his hands over his ears as

ay shook violently.

und. He grabbed a heavy crystal

ui

ashtray direct