Chapter 57

• Collins' hands seize me with a suddenness that steals my breath away, his fingers like talons digging into the fragile fabric of my dress with a desperate, drunken ferocity. Panic grips me like a vice, constricting my throat and sending my heart into a frantic race against my ribcage.
• Just as I'm about to give in to the despair threatening to consume me, the door bursts open with a loud crack, nearly torn from its hinges by the sheer force of the blow. I gasp, my head whipping around to see who could possibly have come to my rescue.
• A figure moves across the room in a blur, grabbing Collins by the collar and ripping him away from me with a strength born of pure, unadulterated rage. Collins caught off guard and hindered by his intoxicated state, is no match for the newcomer's fury. Blow after blow rains down upon him, each sickening crunch of fist against flesh punctuated by a guttural growl that shakes me to my core.