Chapter 16 · Bidding Under the Moon

The woman outside the dark hallway kept humming my mother’s song.

Not loud. Not dramatic. Just three soft notes, then a pause, like she had all night and knew we didn’t.

Sable had her gun up. Dorian had one hand pressed to his side, blood leaking through his ruined shirt. The emergency lights were dead, so the only thing I could see was the blue glow from Sable’s cracked phone screen.

“Tell me that’s not what I think it is,” I whispered.

Dorian’s jaw locked.

“That song,” I said. “My mom used to sing it when the power went out.”

“I know.” His voice came out rough.

Of course he knew.

That hit me harder than it should have. Another little thing he’d known. Another piece of my life tucked into whatever locked room he kept in his head.

The humming stopped.

Then someone knocked once on the security door at the far end of the corridor.

Tap.

A woman’s voice floated through the steel.

“Delivery is overdue.”

Sable swore under her breath. “That’s not good.”

“You think?” I snapped.

She shot me a look.