Chapter 1

The air in the common room at Serenity Pines always smelled like disinfectant and old crayons.

I sat on the floor, across from a girl whose eyes never quite focused, a pretend teacup in my hand.

We weren't really playing, just moving plastic toys around because the orderlies liked us quiet.

My own teacup was empty, just like the one she held.

The thin, grey dress they gave me felt like paper against my skin.

I clutched the only thing that was mine, a small, worn photograph hidden in my palm.

It was of my parents, smiling, from a time before everything went wrong, before Marcus.

Then the door opened, and the scent of expensive cologne cut through the sterile air.

Marcus Thorne stood there, tall and dark in his tailored suit.

My breath caught, a fist of ice squeezing my chest.

The plastic cup slipped from my fingers and clattered on the linoleum.

I tried to make myself smaller, to press into the wall, but there was nowhere to go.

His eyes, the color of a stormy sea, found mine.

A smile touched his lips, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Ava," he said, his voice smooth, like stones rolling in a river. "It's time to come home."

Home. The word was a lie.

My throat closed up, I couldn't speak, couldn't move.

The girl beside me started humming, rocking back and forth.

Marcus took a step into the room, and I flinched.

He stopped, his gaze unwavering.

"The doctors say you're much improved," he said, though his tone suggested he didn't believe it, or perhaps didn't care. "Ready to leave this place."

I wasn't improved, I was just broken into smaller, quieter pieces.

He knew why I was here, he'd put me here after I told him, on my eighteenth birthday, that I loved him.

The memory burned, a constant, dull ache.

He was my guardian, older, powerful, and I had been a fool.

He held out a hand. "Come now."

Slowly, like an old woman, I pushed myself up, my legs shaking.

The photograph felt warm in my sweaty palm.

I didn't take his hand, I couldn't.

I just walked towards the door, towards him, because there was no other choice.

The ride in his luxury SUV was silent, a thick, heavy silence.

I sat in the back, pressed against the door, as far from him as I could get.

He glanced at me in the rearview mirror.

"You didn't take your usual seat," he observed, his voice casual. "Shotgun was always yours."

It had been, before Serenity Pines, before I understood the cage he kept me in.

"I... I know my place now, Marcus," I stammered, my voice barely a whisper.

He didn't reply, just a slight tightening of his jaw.

The estate loomed as we drove through the gates, a massive stone fortress against the grey Pacific Northwest sky.

It was beautiful, opulent, and it was my prison.

The housekeeper, Mrs. Davies, opened the door, her face carefully neutral.

The smell hit me then, rich and savory, a roast, herbed potatoes.

It was my favorite meal, or it used to be.

My stomach let out a loud, embarrassing growl.

Instantly, shame and terror flooded me.

I slapped my hand over my stomach, hard, a reflex.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, tears stinging my eyes. "I'm so sorry."

A flash, the Quiet Room at Serenity Pines, cold, dark.

Days without food, for "defiance," for not being grateful enough.

Marcus was watching me, his expression unreadable.

"You must be hungry, Ava," he said, his voice soft, too soft. "Go wash up. Dinner will be ready soon."

His care was just another form of control.