His promise echoes in my mind, fighting for space with Dr. Sterling’s poison.Clara.The name is a splinter in my brain. Every time I look at Alaric’s profile—the sharp jaw, the focused eyes, the sheer, devastating competence of the man—I wonder. Did he fly Clara out here? Did he hold her hand while the helicopter banked over the trees? Did she think she was being saved, right up until the moment she fell?
Alaric’s hand leaves the collective control and lands on my thigh. He squeezes, his fingers digging into the muscle through my riding breeches. He doesn't look at me, but his voice comes through the headset, clear and intimate.
"We're here."
I look down. There, in the middle of a dense clearing, sits the house. It isn't a cabin. It isn't a rustic retreat. It is a cube of glass and steel dropped into the wilderness like an alien artifact. It looks cold. Precision-engineered. A human terrarium surrounded by savage nature.
We descend. The trees whip violently in the wind of our landing. The skids touch the concrete pad with a jarring thud. Alaric kills the engine. The roar dies down to a whine, then silence. The silence here is different from the asylum. It isn't heavy with secrets. It is vast. Empty. It is the silence of a place where no one can hear you scream.
"Welcome home," Alaric says, removing his headset.
He jumps out and comes around to my side, opening the door. The cold air hits me like a slap—thin, sharp, smelling of pine resin and snow. I shiver, hugging the leather riding coat tighter around myself. Alaric unbuckles me. He lifts me out of the helicopter, setting me down on the concrete. He keeps his arm around me, ushering me toward the house.
"Inside," he commands, scanning the treeline. "Thermal sensors are active, but I want you behind the glass."
We walk to the front door. It is a massive slab of pivoting glass. Alaric presses his palm against a scanner.Beep.The door swings open.
We step inside. The interior is stunning. Minimalist. Floors of polished concrete heated from beneath. Furniture that looks like sculpture. A fireplace suspended from the ceiling in the center of the main room. And walls of glass. Everywhere I look, I see the forest. The trees seem to press against the glass, watching us. It is beautiful. And it is terrifyingly exposed.
"There are no curtains," I whisper.
"No," Alaric says, locking the door behind us. The bolts slide home with a heavythud-thud-thudthat shakes the floor. "I like to see what's coming."
He walks to a control panel on the wall and punches in a code. Iron shutters—similar to the ones in the suite, but sleeker—retract into the ceiling. The house wakes up. Lights dim on. Music starts playing softly from hidden speakers.Gymnopédie No. 1.Satie. Melancholic and slow.
"This place is off the grid," Alaric explains, taking off his leather jacket. Underneath, his black shirt is still stained with oil and sweat. He looks dangerous in this pristine space. "Solar power.Satellite uplink. Independent water filtration. We could live here for years and the world would never know."
"Is that the plan?" I ask, standing by the kitchen island, gripping the edge of the marble counter. "To live here for years?"
Alaric stops. He looks at me across the room. "The plan is to survive, Elodie. Until I flush out the rat in my facility, this is the only safe ground."
He walks over to me. He stops inches away, invading my space. He smells of aviation fuel and the forest. "You're shaking."
"I'm cold."
"Liar." He reaches out and touches the pulse point on my neck. "You're scared. You're wondering if I brought you here to kill you."
My breath hitches. He reads me too well. "Did you?" I challenge, looking up into his silver eyes.
Alaric smiles. It’s a sad, twisted expression. "If I wanted to kill you,petite, I would have done it in the asylum. I would have let Vance take you. I wouldn't have burned my own empire to the ground just to get you out."
He leans down and kisses me. It is a soft, chaste kiss. A promise. "I brought you here to keep you. But I can't keep you if you don't trust me."
He pulls back. "I need to secure the perimeter. Check the generator and the sensor array. It will take me an hour." He points to the spiral staircase leading down. "The master suite is downstairs. There are clothes in the closet. Shower. Change. Warm up."
He walks to a gun cabinet built into the wall. He punches a code and takes out a rifle. A sniper rifle. He checks the scope. "Stayinside, Elodie. The glass is bulletproof. The door is bio-locked. You are safe."
He turns and walks out the front door, the rifle slung over his shoulder. I watch him disappear into the trees. The glass door locks automatically behind him.
I am alone.
The house is quiet. Too quiet. The Satie piece ends and loops. I stand in the center of the living room, feeling the weight of the glass walls. I feel like an insect in a jar.
Trust me,he said.He killed Clara,Sterling said.
I look at the spiral stairs. Downstairs. The master suite. If Clara was here... if she was the "last one"... there might be traces. Alaric is meticulous, but no one is perfect.
I move. I descend the stairs. The concrete steps are cool under my boots. The lower level is partially underground, built into the slope of the hill. The windows here are narrower, looking out at the roots of the trees and the earth. It feels darker. More like a burrow.
