as she stood on the curb outside the estate, the g

black car. She needed a drink. She needed to

round club in Manhattan, hidden beneath a shuttered laundromat, accessible

he bass hit her instantly, a low, primal throb that

or-neon lights slicing through the artificial fog, bodies pressed

y toward her without asking. She tipped her head back and swallowed the burning liquid in o

dered

en watching since she walked in-the way her trench coat hung off her should

he empty seat next to Ansley. He flashed a greasy

swirling his glass with delibe

of distraction, Rocco's fingers moved fast-he tipped a tiny glass vial over her fr

Ansley grew drowsy but stayed sharp enough to clock the threat. Her instincts, honed o

ly to one side. She rested her elbows on the bar, her forehead

mouthful of yellow, crooked teeth. He reached

key glass. Her fingers locked around the thick crystal. I

ove, a deafening c

so hard they shattered the adjacent glass

dn't fade-it died. The DJ threw his hands up and backed away from the turntab

on of their movement, the cold deadness in their eyes-it sent a shockwave of pure intimidation through

eople pressed themselves against the walls in pure, anim

eared path, a man st

all

ate up the distance with unhurried, predatory strides. His face was carved from ice-sharp

h the shadows and l

in the chair. He saw the t

ammed against his ribs with a force th

The ghost who had slipped through his fingers a decade ago, leaving behind no

egrees. He marched toward the bar, h

en have time to

o's wrist. A sickening, wet crack echoed in

of garbage. The thug crashed into the bar counter, glasses shat

locked out all the light, casting her entirely in his shadow. He stared down

dded, defiant eyes-and even drugged,

tricted. He remembered that look. I