SERENA POV
"Eyes forward," the guard said, his voice grating against the silence as I tried to look down the east corridor on my way to the kitchen.
"I'm getting water," I said, my voice flat, refusing to let him see the tremor I felt deep in my marrow.
"Kitchen is that way," he said, pointing straight ahead as if I were a lost child rather than the woman who had helped map this entire estate.
I went straight ahead. I didn't give him the satisfaction of a glare.
The kitchen was empty at this hour, which was what I had been counting on. I filled a glass, the water splashing loudly in the hollow room, and stood at the window. I looked at the grounds and counted the guard rotation for the fourth time this week. I had to be sure. They had tightened it from thirty minutes to twenty-two.
"
