CLAUDE
THE CHAINS RATTLED as I jerked up, my heart slamming against my ribs so hard it hurt. My breath caught in my throat, my eyes locking on the figure standing in the doorway.
Nikolai.
His name slipped from my lips before I could stop it, shaky and desperate.
He was standing, but barely. His shoulders slumped slightly, exhaustion clinging to him like a second skin. Bandages wrapped tight around his torso and shoulder, stark against the paleness of his skin, and a pair of sweatpants hung low on his hips. His hair was a mess, damp and tousled, and a faint sheen of sweat glistened along his brow. He looked like hell.
But he was here.
A sharp breath wrenched itself from my lungs, relief and something dangerously close to panic twisting inside me. I moved before I could think
