stract art a welcome distraction. She lost track of time. When she stepped outside, the

hill. She reached for her phone to call a car, only to find the screen

rofound sense of helplessness washed over her. The humiliation of the past twenty-f

wanted to

he stepped off the cu

stering the thin fabric to her skin. By the time she stumbled into the lobby of the

nothing to chase away

her chin, but the shivering wouldn't stop. A dull ache throbbed behin

azar returned from a

topping when he found it empty. A flash of irritation cro

to the guest room a

en and was met with a

d in on herself, her face flushed a pain

. The heat radiating fr

mily doctor. He had his phone in his ha

ll

the speaker. "Eleazar? Are you coming over?

an burning with fever in the bed. H

rained. "Something's come up. I

s delirious form. Her lips were parte

there. Then, he turned, walked

nce, a cool hand on her skin. Then, the presence was gone. He'd left her alone in the dark

be left here, t

later, the do

nal assistant, Leo Vance, flanked b

rs. Hudson. Mr. Hudson asked me to arra

weak to speak

er onto a gurney, covering he

gh the blur, she thought she saw a figure standing in the shadow

he wa

tradictory, reluctant care was a poison, seeping into the