“I’ll be there in a couple of minutes,” he promised. “I’m going to call Ty, okay? Then I’ll call you right back.”

“Yeah. That sounds good,” she said, taking a breath and then another one.

“I’ll be there soon, sweetheart.”

“Thank you,” she whispered. She hung up and returned to the kitchen.

Lola jogged down the hallway to Harper, and Gloria heard the snick of the deadbolt.

“Sorry to be such a party pooper,” Gloria said lamely. “Aldo’s on his way.”

“Ty, too,” Sophie told her. “He’s checking your place and your mom’s place first.”

“Okay, good.”

“So…who is this Glenn guy?” Hannah asked. “Because he sounds like a dick.”

Sophie smirked, and Gloria let out a nervous titter. “Yeah, pretty much.”

Before anyone could fill Hannah in on how much of a dick Glenn was, there was a crash of glass followed by Harper’s shrill shriek.

Gloria’s demon was here. She could feel him like a stain, a bruise, a dark mark that ruined everything.

“Oh, fuck!” Sophie lunged for the knife block and yanked out a boning knife.

“Everybody out!” Harper screamed from the dining room. “Go to Mrs. Agosta’s!”

Hannah grabbed Gloria’s wrist in a death grip.

“Go!” Sophie hissed at them, clutching the knife in both hands. “Get her out!”

Max’s three legs skittered on the kitchen tile as Lola’s warning growl sounded from the dining room.

“Shit.” Hannah let go of Gloria and dove for the little dog before he could run straight into danger. Sophie opened the basement door, and Hannah set him on the top step before slamming the door.

“Gloria! Go!” Sophie shouted.

“Well, look who’s home,” a familiar voice cackled from the dining room, and Gloria’s blood ran cold. The memory of a hundred beatings washed over her, freezing her to the spot. The inevitability of it broke her heart. It was always going to happen. No amount of laws could protect her. No new boyfriend or new friends or new life could keep her safe.

Glenn was here. He came for her, and Harper was facing him alone…

“Gloria’s gone. She’s safe and calling the cops right now.” Harper’s words reached them in the kitchen. Sophie grabbed her phone.

“Get the fuck here now, Ty. Now!”

Gloria’s phone vibrated against her leg.

“Gloria you need to run,” Hannah told her, pushing her toward the back door. “We’re not going to let him hurt you.”

Gloria watched her hand reach for the handle on the back door as if it belonged to someone else. Her worlds had collided. And she was supposed to run away? She was supposed to let him hurt them?

She heard shouting from the front room. Heard a growl and a scuffle and a sickening thump.