I run the night desk at Marsh Tower. I decide who reaches the top floor and who waits below. Nobody looks at me. That is how I stay safe.
My brother is missing. My mother forgets my name a little more each week. I take extra shifts, pay the care home, and keep my mouth shut.
Then Coren Marsh sees me. Not my badge. Me. He watches me handle a blackout and does not look away.
I make one bad call and expect to be fired. He keeps me. He moves me closer. He builds walls around me and calls it work. Every wall makes me safer. Every wall makes him harder to leave.
He says he protects what is his. I need to know if he is building me a way out or a cage—before I stop wanting the door.
