The storm came that night.
Not outside—but in me.
It started in my chest, thunder rolling beneath my ribs, lightning flashing behind my eyes. Every breath felt too sharp, every thought too loud. I stood in the corridor of the west wing, trembling fingers hovering above the lockpad that led to Asher’s new cell. I shouldn’t have been there. Not after everything. Not after what he’d said. But I couldn’t stay away.
He was inside me like a toxin, and I was spiraling.
He knew.
He always knew how to crack me open.
I keyed in the override.
The door hissed open.
He was waiting.
Shirtless, still bruised from the last scuffle with security, his wrists were bound to the chair again—this time with steel cuffs and rune-binding. But his posture was relaxed. Confident. As if he’d known I would co
