I didn’t sleep that night.
Even with the doors locked, the windows latched, and every light blazing in my apartment, I couldn’t shake the feeling that Asher Beaumont was still in the room with me. His voice echoed in my head, slithering through the cracks of my carefully built defenses.
You’ll wish you’d left me buried.
The words gnawed at me until dawn.
By the time I stepped back into the facility, I felt like a ghost of myself. The guards didn’t meet my eyes. They used to—back when they thought I was untouchable. But now? Now there were whispers. Rumors that I’d crossed lines no one else dared to.
And maybe they were right.
When I reached the observation wing, my assistant, Mara, was waiting, her face pale.
“He’s refusing food again,” she said quietly. “Third day in a row.”
Of co
