Drevena pov

The most intoxicating kind of control is the one that turns defiance into hunger.

***

Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick…

Slam!

My back hit the wall, the impact rattling through me, sending the clock crashing to the ground, glass shattering like the world itself had stopped, like the air had frozen, holding its breath.

Pain shot through every inch of me, making me tremble but I didn’t whimper. I didn’t cry.

Instead, the corner of my lips curved into a slow, wicked ...