Page 60 of Bound By Crimson

Chapter Sixty

Silence, Paid in Full

The door creaked open.

Lyric jolted upright, the journal still clutched to her chest.

Panic snapped through her as she shoved it under the mattress, smoothing the covers hastily just as Tessa and Bernarda entered.

They didn’t seem to notice.

Or if they did, they pretended not to.

Their faces were blank, their movements mechanical as they set a silver tray down by the window.

Tessa lingered for a breath longer, her gaze flickering briefly toward Lyric—something soft and uncertain behind her eyes—before she followed Bernarda out.

The door clicked shut, sealing Lyric in silence again.

She stared at the tray.

Toast. Fruit. A soft-boiled egg. The scent made her stomach clench.

She forced herself to eat anyway. Not for her.

For him— Noah .

Small bites. Slow, dry swallows. Her throat protested every motion, but she kept going. She needed the strength.

She wiped her hands and grabbed her phone, unlocking the screen with shaking fingers .

No signal. Just like always.

Her eyes flicked toward the window, then to the garden beyond it.

If she was going to reach anyone—Kai—she’d have to go to the back wall.

---

Outside, the garden air wrapped around her—thick and wet, heavy as a second skin.

Even in March, the North Carolina air clung to everything—the roses, the hedges, her own lungs.

It wasn’t like New York, sharp and crisp.

Here, the heat smothered slowly.

Lyric drifted along the garden path, trying to quiet her mind, trying to breathe.

She rounded a bend and froze.

Walter.

He was clipping roses by the maze, his shears moving methodically through the blooms.

For a moment, hope sparked painfully in her chest.

Walter had been kind before.

Loose-lipped.

He had told her things—about the poisoning, about the whispers that clung to the Thornwick name like mildew.

Maybe he would talk again.

Maybe he would help.

She approached slowly.

“Walter,” she said, her voice low and tentative.

He stiffened immediately.

When he turned, his face was tight, his eyes darting briefly toward the house before settling on her with thinly veiled fear.

“Miss,” he said stiffly, almost a whisper.

Lyric swallowed.

“I need to ask you something,” she said.

Walter’s hand tightened around the shears.

“Can’t help you, miss,” he said quickly, glancing over his shoulder again .

“But you told me before—”

He cut her off, voice hard and low.

“Was too loose with my tongue once. Won’t happen again.”

Lyric took a step closer, her heart pounding.

“Please,” she whispered. “I just—”

Walter shook his head sharply.

“You’re never alone here,” he muttered.

“You think you are, but you’re not.”

A beat of silence stretched between them.

Walter looked like he wanted to say more—like the words were burning his mouth—

But then he turned and hurried away, disappearing behind a wall of hedges.

Lyric stood frozen in the garden path, the heavy air pressing against her skin.

Something had changed.

Someone had gotten to Walter.

Warned him.

Threatened him.

She wasn’t just being watched—

She was being contained.

---

She drifted away from the maze, from the gardens, from the house that loomed like a living creature behind her.

Her steps carried her toward the back of the estate, where the tall stone wall rose up against the humid sky.

There were no safe places here.

No friends.

No help.

By the time she reached the stone wall, her breath was shallow, her limbs trembling.

She dropped onto the bench, cradling her stomach, trying to calm herself.

Her phone buzzed in her hand.

Signal found.

Then it began .

Ping. Ping. Ping.

Her screen lit up in a frenzy of missed calls and messages.

Rowan (8 missed calls)

Velora (4 voicemails)

Callie. Kat. Dozens of texts.

Her fingers trembled as she scrolled.

One from Rowan:

“Where are you?? Please call me. It’s urgent.”

Another from Velora:

“Lyric, please tell me you’re okay. We’re all freaking out.”

She tried calling Kai first. The phone rang once—then went straight to voicemail.

Her lips parted, dry and shaking.

She called Callie next.

It rang twice before Callie picked up.

“Lyric,” she said, far too calm. “Hey—how are you feeling?”

Lyric froze. “What’s going on? Why is everyone trying to reach me?”

Callie paused. “I don’t know. Just wanted to say hi, that’s all.”

“Callie—”

“I’ve gotta go. I can’t talk now… I’m sorry.”

Click.

She stared at the phone, stunned.

She tapped Kat’s name, her pulse pounding.

Kat picked up on the first ring, whispering, “Lyric? I’m so sorry. I had to take the money.”

“What?” Lyric rasped. “What money? What are you talking about?”

“I—I signed the NDA. I didn’t want to, but… I couldn’t risk it. He’s dangerous. I’m so sorry.”

Lyric stood. “Kat. Slow down. What are you saying? What happened?”

“You don’t know?” Kat’s voice faltered.

“No. What don’t I know?”

Silence.

Then:

“Oh no… ”

Click.

The call ended.

Lyric stood by the stone wall, her body shaking, her breath catching in her throat.

They were all hiding something.

All afraid.

All controlled.

And she was trapped—alone, erased, buried alive inside this estate.

She opened her contacts again and hovered her thumb over Velora’s name… then changed her mind. She needed to hear Rowan’s voice instead.

Someone had to tell her the truth.

Someone still had to be on her side.

If Rowan wasn’t… she didn’t know what she’d do.