Liliette had no idea where Vlad had suddenly appeared from. Her bewildered eyes darted around before finally landing on the second-floor balcony. That was where he had leaped from. Gripping the railing with trembling hands stood Valks, staring down at them with an astonished look on his face.
Even the most skilled knight wouldn’t survive such a fall. Liliette’s head whipped back to Vlad, her expression a mix of disbelief and concern.
“Did you really jump down from there? From that height?” she asked incredulously.
A bitter light flickered in his stormy gray eyes. At his silent confirmation, her heart plummeted to her stomach, and she instinctively let go of Dandelion’s hand. Her father’s writhing form on the stairs became an afterthought, a shadow in her peripheral vision. In that moment, only Vlad existed.
“Are you hurt? Oh…!” she gasped.
“L-Liliette!” Dandelion yelped behind her.
