The Vane Estate was not a home; it was a fortress of glass and steel perched on a cliffside.

"This is your room," Julian said, opening a door to a suite larger than her entire apartment building. "There are clothes in the closet. A stylist will be here at noon. We have a gala tonight."

"A gala? I’m a witness to a crime, not a socialite!"

"Tonight, you are the woman who captured the heart of Julian Vane," he said, his voice dropping an octave. He stepped into her space, his hand ghosting over her cheek. For a second, Elara forgot to breathe. The tension was electric, a physical force that made her skin prickle.

"Stay in the light, Elara. Don't go into the East Wing. And don't touch the locked door at the end of the hall."

"What's behind it?"

Julian’s expression turned to stone. "The reason I don't sleep."

He turned and left, the click of his heels echoing like a countdown. Elara stood in the center of the room, surrounded by silk and gold, feeling more like a prisoner than she ever had in her poverty.

She walked to the window. Below, the ocean crashed against the rocks. She was safe from the world, but she was trapped with a monster.

Restless, she wandered the hallway later that afternoon. The house was silent. She found herself at the end of the corridor, staring at the heavy mahogany door Julian had warned her about.

The handle didn't turn. But as she leaned her ear against the wood, she didn't hear a monster.

She heard a cello. A recording of a woman playing the exact same Dvořák concerto she had been practicing the night her life ended.

Suddenly, a hand slammed against the door next to her head. Elara jumped, a scream catching in her throat. Julian was standing there, his face twisted in a mask of fury.

"I told you," he hissed, "never to come here."

"Who is playing that?" she whispered.

Julian grabbed her arm, pulling her away, but his grip wasn't violent—it was shaking. "That," he said, his voice breaking for the first time, "is the sound of the only person I ever failed to save. Do not make me fail you too."