Athena POV
I walked back toward the room slowly, every step measured as though the wrong sound might draw attention I could not survive. The corridor felt longer than it had before. My skin still crawled, nerves buzzing as if I had escaped something that had left its imprint beneath my flesh.
I was almost there.
“Athena.”
Lincoln’s voice cut through the quiet night.
I stopped so abruptly my body forgot how to move. My heart slammed once. For a moment, I couldn’t even turn. I stood frozen, my back to him, the memory of rough hands and hot breath rising up so violently it made my vision blur.
“Where are you coming from?” he asked.
It was late. Too late for wandering. Too late for excuses.
I forced myself to face him. My limbs felt wrong, heavy, as if they belonged to someone else. Th
