She slid behind the wheel and slammed the door. Hard. Loud. Like it might scare the fear off. Her hands fumbled for the lock, muscle memory moving faster than thought.
Too slow.
Too late.
Her breath stuttered against the glass, each exhale a ghost. The shadows outside blurred and multiplied, as if the night itself had noticed her.
And then—movement. A shape flickered at the edge of her sight.
A figure stepped from the dark.
Her chest thudded with each beat. Loud. Uneven. Like her body was trying to warn her.
The handle jolted. Once. Then again. Harder. The door ripped open.
Her scream split the quiet.
Fingers seized her wrist, tight and sudden. Too real to be imagined.
Iron. Cold. Unrelenting.
“You can’t keep running,” he said. Calm. Certain. Like the outcome had already been decided.
She clawed at him, panic blazing.
His grasp didn’t budge. Bone-deep. Bruising. Meant to own.
“You don’t get it,” he said low, dragging her closer. “I’ve given you time. I’ve watched you. Waited. For you to see me.”
Her stomach lurched. “Let go of me!”
“You smile at everyone,” he whispered. “But not me. Never me.”
His other hand… Arden’s gaze dropped. It held a knife. Thin. Reflective. Waiting.
His fingers flexed. She flinched.
“God, the way you smell. Jasmine, lavender… vanilla. I searched everywhere for that. It stays with me, you know. Your scent. Like it wants me to remember.”
Her pulse roared, drowning everything but the need to move. Her thoughts fractured—panic, survival, escape.
“You don’t have to fight me.” He tightened his hold—measured, smug—like she was his. “I’m trying to give you something real—why are you fighting it? If you’d just let me?—”
But that was when it hit her.
The burn of old wounds. The memory of hands that didn’t ask. Words she never wanted to hear.
The fire ignited, rage eclipsing fear.
“No,” she snarled, voice trembling but unbroken.
She moved.
Fast enough to catch him off guard.
Her free hand wrapped around the steel blade before he could blink.
It slashed through skin, sharp and hot, but she didn’t let go.
