The name landed like a stone dropped into still water. Avery. She had heard it before. In Roman's fevered whispers. In the gaps between his sleep. She had dismissed it as nothing but a  misheard word. But then she heard it again from him last night. Much more clearly.

Now this man is saying that same name. Avery. Like it belonged to her.

"Wh…what did you call me?" Her voice came out hoarse, scraped raw by the tension coiling in her chest. The pain in her head was spreading, pulsing behind her eyes like a second heartbeat.

The man smiled eerily, savoring every ounce of her expression.

"Avery." He let...