Xavier Lockwood took Summer Thorne to the hospital. After drawing her blood, he arranged for her to stay the night for a full check-up the next day.
The day had been utterly exhausting. Despite the discomfort of the hospital bed, Summer Thorne fell asleep almost immediately.
She had a dream.
Beneath a curtain of drizzling rain, inside a sealed car, there was frantic, ragged breathing... a hand that controlled everything, that commanded the storm...
She saw herself, blindfolded. She shouldn't have been able to see a thing, yet the moment she sagged against his shoulder, she saw his eyes.
His eyes were like a bottomless abyss. So dark, so deep, she shouldn't have been able to see anything in them.
And yet, she saw herself.
She saw herself trapped in his eyes, being devoured bit by bit, drowning...
Summer Thorne jolted awake with a violent twitch.
In the private room, only the night light remained on. In its dim, hazy glow, she saw someone sitting by her bed.
