I looked at the window at the end of the hallway.

It was a small double-hung window, but Nathan had fitted it with heavy security latches.

I knew the glass was impact-resistant.

“Let us out, Nathan,” I said, my voice cracking.

“If you love Lily, you will let us leave.”

“Because I love her, I cannot let you take her out into the dark,” he said.

“You are not stable right now, Sarah.”

“You are projecting your own stress onto our family.”

He reached out a hand, his fingers long and clean.

They were the hands of a surgeon who never slipped.

“Give me the keys, Sarah.”

“No,” I said.

I backed away from him, pulling Lily toward the guest room at the far end of the hall.

This was the room where his mother, Eleanor, was currently staying.

I needed a room with a solid lock on the inside, somewhere I could think.

We hurried past the bathroom, and Nathan didn’t try to grab us.

He only watched us walk away with a cold, analytical curiosity.

I opened the guest room door, pulled Lily inside, and slammed it shut behind us.