A Bet for Blood

Eloise – First Person POV

Rain had started by the time Mike’s voice broke through the frantic pounding of my heart.

“You’re not going alone,” he said, his tone low, sharp, cutting against the restless clatter of raindrops against the atelier’s broken windows.

I shook my head before he’d even finished. My hands were still trembling from the message, the image burned so deep into my brain it felt branded there. Max’s eyes, red, wide, terrified above the gag—were all I could see.

“I have to,” I said, pushing past him toward the back hallway. My chest felt like it had been hollowed out and stuffed...