Chapter Three

Elena’s POV

Thunder rolled across the block just as the hallway lights flickered and died.

I stood frozen in the corridor with a bag of takeout still warm in my hand, the sudden darkness absolute except for the emergency strip near the stairwell. Rain hammered the windows at the end of the hall hard enough to drown out the usual building noises. My own apartment sat only a few doors away, yet the idea of eating alone in the black felt heavier than it should have. Before I could talk myself into it, the door to 3B opened and Roman’s silhouette filled the frame, flashlight beam cutting a...