Aiden POV
The knock on the door had echoed like a gunshot.
I didn't expect it. I didn't even want to believe it was her. After everything, I thought maybe she'd just vanish. That she'd realize her sins, crawl back into whatever hole she came from, and disappear. But when the door creaked open and I saw her—no, what was left of her—my breath caught in my throat.
She looked like she'd crawled out of the grave.
Her clothes were tattered beyond recognition, soaked through with grime and blood and some foul stench I couldn't place. Her hair, once silky and proud, hung in filthy knots over her pale face. And her eyes… they were glassy, distant, flickering like a candle about to go out. Then I saw it—her leg. Torn open, angry and raw. A bite mark. Deep. Infected.
And then she collapsed.
"Alexia!" I lunged forward, catching her before her head hit the floor. Her body sagged into mine like a rag doll, too light, too weak.
