Deirdre returned to her room in the mansion and sat on the edge of her bed in a dissociative trance.

Minutes crawled, possibly hours. She had no idea how long it took until she finally felt sleep catching up to her. She lay down.

Then, suddenly, her door swung open from a kick. Brendan lurched like a mad beast and pinned her wrists against the floor. The air chilled, but Deirdre could almost feel frost coming from the man’s eyes furiously scanning her face.

“Didn’t even lose a sleep over the