I woke to silence.
Not the comforting kind, but the sharp, unnatural stillness that made the hairs on the back of my neck rise. The fire had long since died down, leaving the lake house cloaked in shadows and half-light.
Asher was already awake.
Sitting near the window.
Perfectly still.
“They found us,” he said without turning.
My pulse stuttered. “How?”
He glanced back at me, and his eyes—usually dark with obsession—now held something colder. Smarter. Rage barely tethered beneath control.
“Because someone told them.”
⸻
It wasn’t possible.
I hadn’t spoken to anyone.
There were no trackers. No signals. No reason anyone would even know where this place was unless—
My breath caught.
“Is this another game?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No games, Ava. Not anymore. Someone on the
