Page 115 of Buried in Blood

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Not when I cut the lights.

Because even Harmony knows—

When I lose control,everyonegets locked up.

Even the ones I love.

Especially the ones I love.

33

Harmony

There’s no clock down here.

No light through the cracks. No shift in shadow. Just stone walls, stale air, and silence so thick it coats my throat like honey.

Time doesn’t pass. It decays. Rots.

I sit with my knees pulled to my chest, hands trembling where they rest against bare skin. The cell smells like rust and bleach. Like ghosts. Like old screams sealed into the concrete.

I try not to blink too long. Every time I do, I see her.

Brooke.

The way her eyes widened when Lucien stepped forward.

The way Damien didn’t notice.

But I did.

Lucien bought her. With a fake name. A fake history. A real goal.

And now she’s gone.

Please let her be safe.

But what doessafeeven mean anymore?

I press my forehead to my knees and breathe through the panic. One. Two. Three.

It doesn’t help.

The walls feel closer today. Like they’re moving in, inch by inch, waiting for me to scream. But I won’t. He wants that.

I can still feel his hands on me.

The way he yanked me down here like I was nothing. The way he said I didn’t deserve the house. The way he locked the door like it was a mercy.

It’s not.

This is punishment.

This is a coffin with air.

And worst of all?

I don’t even disagree.

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