e right behind her eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut and forced her breathing to slow down. Inhale for four seconds

mahogany door, low, harsh

liquidity is dry

her uncle, Warren Bridges. His tone was g

. Warren had slammed a stack of docu

it to the board tomorrow. We can bypass the standard protocols, claim the main branch has approve

's voice trembled, but the refusal was sharp. "I

tsteps a

yn, pl

e rose in the back of her

ke sympathy. "If you are stubborn about this, Ava is the one who will suffer. She won't

he remembered this exact conversation. She remembered how Cristin's soft words had slowly chipp

family business, Cris

t sign it. But the medical bills for Conrad's sanatorium are due next

its mark. Ava could hear the subtle shift in

chuckle escape

nails directly into the soft flesh of her palms. She pressed until the

dreaming. She was not dead. She was here, and she was fifteen, but h

nfusion was gone. Her pupil

-dampened skin, raising goosebumps along her arms. She looked down at her left hand. A

plastic hub and ripped the needle ou

lood splattered onto the

he blood across her skin. She swung her legs over the edge o

spine. She adjusted her posture, locking into the rigid, domina

reached out and wrapped her hand