Chapter 15 · free to read
Nine hours on the clock. Two hundred and six hearts beating once a minute, waiting to be paid for.
She had learned in a doorway that warmth given away came back stronger than warmth held. It was the only weapon she brought.
She had been a beta for three years and had never once been the person who carried the count. She was carrying it now, out loud, one name at a time.
He had built her without a floor so there would be nothing in the way. He had not accounted for six objects on a windowsill.
Artwork and narration generated with AI.