Chloe's POV
I stayed at the edge of the path longer than I should have, the white cotton of the nightgown pale against the darkening ground. The greenhouse door remained slightly ajar. That thin, metallic-chemical smell drifted out on the evening air, stronger now that I was closer.
Shadows moved behind the fogged glass—quick, irregular, nothing like the careful tending of plants.
Curiosity and the residual echo of the scream pulled me forward until I stood close enough to see through a clearer panel.
Jasper was inside.
He stood over a man who had been forced to his knees on the stone floor between the long potting tables.
The man's hands were bound in front of him. Several fingers were already missing; dark blood slicked the remaining ones and dripped slowly onto the c
