Elena closed her eyes tightly, her fingers bunching the wool of the blanket into her fists. She waited for the sound of his brass key entering the lock. She waited for him to notice that two of the deadbolts were already open. If he touched the lock and felt that the top two bars were gone, he would know she had been trying to escape. He would tell Julian.
She heard him lean his heavy shoulder against the wood. He let out a loud, wet sigh, the smell of cheap beer coming through the crack of the door.
"Hey," Marcus called out, hitting the wood with the flat of his hand. The loud bang made Elena’s whole body jump under the blanket. "Julian said to give you this. Don't go spilling it on the bed."
He did not turn the key. Instead, he reached down to the bottom of the door, where there was a
