Chapter 38

The silence in Unit 40B was not empty; it was heavy. It pressed against the floor-to-ceiling glass windows like a physical weight, holding back the chaos of the city forty floors below.

It was 2:17 AM.

Aria lay in the center of the king-sized bed, her body rigid under the duvet. She was wide awake. She had been awake since midnight, staring at the ceiling, listening to the settling of the building, the hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen, the thudding of her own pulse in her ears.

She was wearing her armor: gray flannel pajama pants, a thick long-sleeved t-shirt, and socks. She was sweating under the heavy down comforter, but she refused to kick it off. To be exposed felt dangerous.

She turned her head on the pillow.

Tik. Tik. Tik.

The heavy steel watch Damian had given her sat on the nightstand. The luminous hands glowed a sickly green in the dark. Every tick sounded like a footstep. Every tock sounded like a lock turning.

She rolled over, facing the bedroom door.

She had barricad