ARIA'S POV
Consciousness returned slowly, like swimming up through dark water.
My head felt heavy. Wrong. Like it was stuffed with cotton.
Everything was muffled and distant.
I tried to open my eyes, but my eyelids were so heavy.
Where was I?
What happened?
I forced my eyes open, blinking against harsh fluorescent light that made my skull throb.
The ceiling above me was water-stained concrete. Unfamiliar.
Confusion bloomed through the fog in my mind.
This wasn't the hotel suite.
This wasn't anywhere I recognized.
I tried to move, to sit up, and that's when I felt it.
Restraints.
My hands were bound behind me, zip-ties cutting into my wrists. My ankles were strapped to the legs of a chair, rough rope that bit into my skin.
And there was something in my mouth. Cloth. Gagged.
Panic exploded through me like a bomb going off.
I tried to scream, but the gag muffled everything into a pathetic whimper.
Tried to struggle, yanking against the restraints, but they held firm.
