The chemical sweetness of chloroform still coated the back of Clara’s throat when she clawed her way back to consciousness.

She gasped, her eyes snapping open to the flickering, jaundiced glow of the streetlamp bleeding through her apartment window. For a terrifying second, she thought she was sti

The rain felt like needles against Clara’s face as she sprinted through the dark, slick streets of the city. She didn't stop for crosswalks. She didn't flinch when taxi cabs blared their horns and swerved to avoid her. Her lungs burned, her legs ached, but the only thing driving her forward was the

"Excellent," Julian murmured, the single word vibrating with a dark, terrifying finality that made the hairs on the back of Clara’s neck stand at attention.

He didn't gloat. He didn't laugh. He simply watched her with the calm, sated expression of a predator that had finally felt its jaws snap shu