With trembling hands, I slammed the door shut and twisted the lock, my chest rising and falling with shallow breaths. Panic pressed hard against my ribs. Father had already gone for his hunt, and the silence of the house only magnified the sound of my fear. Whoever had knocked before… I didn’t recognize the voice.
My legs moved on their own, carrying me to the table where I searched frantically for a phone. My fingers brushed the empty wood, and a frustrated groan tore from my lips. Of course—I didn’t have one. The only phone I ever had was left back at Tristan’s mansion. The one place I could never return.
The knock came again, sharper this time, rattling through the wooden frame. My body jerked as though the sound had struck me.
I pressed my ear against the door, desperate to make out
