Page 168 of Bound By Crimson

---

When he turned, his face was tight, his eyes darting briefly toward the house before settling on her with thinly veiled fear.

“Miss,” he said stiffly, almost a whisper.

Lyric swallowed.

“I need to ask you something,” she said.

Walter’s hand tightened around the shears.

“Can’t help you, miss,” he said quickly, glancing over his shoulder again.

“But you told me before—”

He cut her off, voice hard and low.

“Was too loose with my tongue once. Won’t happen again.”

Lyric took a step closer, her heart pounding.

“Please,” she whispered. “I just—”

Walter shook his head sharply.

“You’re never alone here,” he muttered.

“You think you are, but you’re not.”

A beat of silence stretched between them.

Walter looked like he wanted to say more—like the words were burning his mouth—

But then he turned and hurried away, disappearing behind a wall of hedges.

Lyric stood frozen in the garden path, the heavy air pressing against her skin.

Something had changed.

Someone had gotten to Walter.

Warned him.

Threatened him.

She wasn’t just being watched—

She was being contained.

---

She drifted away from the maze, from the gardens, from the house that loomed like a living creature behind her.

Her steps carried her toward the back of the estate, where the tall stone wall rose up against the humid sky.

There were no safe places here.

No friends.

No help.

---