Evaline:
My words lingered in the air, heavy and unresolved.
If the darkness beneath the West Tower had still been sealed when Naira was found unconscious... then how had her soul been taken?
The question echoed in my mind, circling endlessly, but none of us had an answer. Not River, not Oscar, not Kieran. The silence that followed was thick, pressing down on my chest.
And then...
A knock sounded on the door.
It was soft, hesitant, yet urgent enough to slice straight through the tension in the room.
River straightened immediately. "Come in."
The door opened slowly, and Rowan stepped inside.
The moment I saw him, my heart clenched.
He looked exactly the way my mates had looked when I first woke up - pale, tense, eyes wide with worry he hadn't bothered to hide. His shoulders were stiff, as if he'd been carrying something unbearably heavy for hours and had no idea how to put it down.
And then his gaze found me.
It was almost painful to watch the change.
