Chapter One

Elena’s POV

The engine cut out without warning, leaving only the soft tick of cooling metal and the low hush of an empty street.

I sat behind the wheel with both hands locked in place, staring at the dark dashboard as if concentration alone could force the lights back on. Nothing answered. The late shift had already stretched past midnight; the residential block around me sat quiet and poorly lit, houses set back behind low fences and darkened windows. My phone screen showed a single flickering bar that died the moment I tried to pull up a roadside service number.

“Perfect.”

I tried the ignition again. A dull...