The second Niko said her name, irritation shot through me like a blade. My jaw clenched hard enough I thought it might crack. "What does she want?" I asked, voice low, sharp, menacing.
Niko shifted his weight, straightening like a soldier under command. "She hasn't stopped calling. Trying to reach you. Every day since you left with Aria. But… I'm not sure what she wants."
A bitter laugh scraped up my throat, though it tasted more like blood. "Of course you're not sure. She never says what she wants. She just takes."
And then it hit me, flashes of that night. Her weight crushing me down, the taste of bile at the back of my throat, the way my own body had betrayed me when I'd been too broken to fight her off. My stomach rolled and for a heartbeat I thought I'd be sick right there in front of him.
"Sir?" Niko's voice was careful, searching. "What's wrong?"
