“Did she go upstairs?” one of them said.
“Check each room,” the other replied, raking his eyes across the hallway. Their steps grew closer, heavy on the wood, and I pressed myself flat against the floor, wishing I could disappear entirely.
My pulse raced as one of them opened my door, standing just a few feet away from where I was hidden. I could see the bottom of his boots as he stepped cautiously into the room, scanning every corner. The other man’s voice drifted from the hallway outside, muttering something about checking the closets, and my stomach knotted tighter. I held my breath, barely daring to blink, feeling the floorboards beneath me vibrate with each careful step. Every instinct screamed to stay utterly still, and I dug my knuckles into the floor as though it could anchor me to invisibility.
The man walked to the door again, and I almost let out a sigh of relief.
Until the other’s hand shot out, grabbing me by the back leg, yanking me harshly from under the bed. Pain shot through me,and I gasped, flailing instinctively as he dragged me across the floor. The taller man yanked me off the floor and threw me on to the bed.
“You,” he said, reaching for the gun holstered at his waist. “Were very hard to find.”
“W-wait!” I stammered, tears welling up in my eyes. “Don’t do this, please!”
“Don’t do this,” he repeated, mocking me, leaning closer with a cruel smile that made my stomach twist.
He pulled out the gun and pointed it at my head, the cold metal gleaming under the dim light.
“Now wait a minute,” the shorter man said, interrupting my execution. “We could have some fun with her first.”
“I’d rather die,” I said, my voice trembling but firm, each word a small act of rebellion. The two men froze for a heartbeat, caught off guard by my boldness, and I could see the shorter one’s grin falter.
“You’ll get to do that, too,” the shorter man pushed the taller one out of the way. “Move.”
Then, he yanked down my pajama bottoms and underwear, leaving me completely exposed. My heart raced, panic and shame mixing as I struggled against him, desperate for any way out.
“N-no!” I said, my voice trembling but sharp, a mix of terror and stubborn defiance. My hands clawed at his grip, trying to push him away, but he was too strong.
Just as his hand moved toward his belt, a deafening crack shattered the room. Blood was everywhere. On me, on the man, on the walls. I didn’t know where it had come from, and for a moment, my mind went blank
The shorter man froze mid-motion, and I realized the blood was spurting from his head. My stomach lurched, and a strangled gasp escaped me as the reality hit: I was staring atdeath in motion. My hands flew to my mouth as another shot rang out, and I heard something hit the floor.
All I could focus on was the man’s dead body, now slumped to the side, blood pooling beneath him. The room spun around me, the walls closing in as the reality of what had just happened sank in. My hands shook, and I pressed them to my mouth to stifle a sob, heart hammering in my chest.
I had seen filth, drunken anger, the reckless cruelty of people before—but nothing like this. Nothing that made my stomach twist, my hands tremble, and my chest feel like it would shatter.
“Tessa,” Felix’s voice broke through my spiraling thoughts. I blinked, forcing myself to focus on him, on the solid presence beside me, and not the dead man at my feet.
“Felix?” I said, my voice barely more than a whisper, caught between relief and lingering terror. My hands reached out instinctively, clutching at his arm as if anchoring myself to the one thing that still felt real.
“You’re ok,” he murmured, wiping blood off me. “You’re safe now.”
“You… killed them?” I asked, my voice trembling. My stomach churned at the thought, at the reality of what had just happened, and my hands shook as I pressed them to my chest.
Felix’s gaze didn’t waver, dark and unflinching. “They were going to hurt you.”
He somehow looked calm after all the bloodshed, like the chaos around us didn’t even touch him. Blood smeared across the floor and walls, bodies motionless in their final moments, and yet he stood there, steady and composed, as if none of it had shaken him at all. His dark eyes held a terrifying sort of control, a quiet power that both unnerved me and made my stomach churn. Even in the midst of horror, he was unshakable.
The image of him in an apron, cooking dinner or folding laundry, vanished completely from my mind. The quiet,domestic life I had imagined felt absurd now, replaced by the stark reality of the man standing before me—lethal, unflinching, and impossibly dangerous. The idea that he could be gentle, ordinary, even safe, crumbled like dust, leaving only the raw, unsettling truth: Felix was not someone to be domesticated, and the thought of ever trying seemed both foolish and terrifying.
Chapter 28
Felix
Ihad gotten a security notification on my phone. After the night of the power outage, I’d installed a new system—more sophisticated, with motion sensors, cameras, and encrypted alerts. When I had seen the two men entering the front door, I raced to the house as fast as I could, as I knew every second counted. Fortunately, I arrived just in time. If I had been even thirty seconds later, I didn’t want to think about what might have happened.
I had cleaned the blood off Tessa and put her to bed, tucking the blankets around her as if that small gesture could shield her from the nightmare she’d just survived. She was finally still, though I could see the tension lingering in her shoulders even in sleep. My hands itched to do more, to somehow erase the horror she’d witnessed, but I knew there was nothing I could do except stay close, keep watch, and try to protect her from ever experiencing that type of danger again.
But what had they wanted? I walked through the house, my eyes scanning every corner, every upended drawer, every shelf they’d rifled through. They’d passed over items worth thousands of dollars, throwing them haphazardly on the floor. Nothing they destroyed or left untouched made sense in terms of conventional value. My mind narrowed, tracing their steps, piecing together their intent. They hadn’t been after money. They hadn’t been after valuables.
