Chapter 226

The basement smelled of damp concrete, old blood, and the faint metallic tang of fear that still lingered in the air. Declan Hayes stood in the center of the empty room, the single bare bulb swinging lazily above him like a hanged man. The metal chair was bolted to the floor, chains dangling loose from the wrist cuffs. A single white rose petal, stained with a drop of dried blood, lay on the concr