The house wasn’t supposed to shake.
Safe houses don’t shake.
But the floor beneath me trembled again — a low, rolling vibration that crawled up the walls and into my bones. I pressed myself flatter against the hardwood, breath shallow, heart pounding so hard it hurt.
Cole’s voice echoed down the hallway — calm, controlled, lethal.
“Turn around. Leave now.”
A second voice answered, distorted and wrong, like someone speaking through a broken radio.
“Payment is due.”
My blood ran cold.
The Hollow Men.
They weren’t supposed to be real. They weren’t supposed to be here. They weren’t supposed to know my name.
But they did.
And they were inside the house.
I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing myself to breathe quietly. Cole had told me to stay low, stay silent, stay hidden. I didn’t know h
