Chase
*****Crescent Valley Fortress — Mid-Morning*****
I didn’t sleep.
I didn’t even sit.
After Elena disappeared behind those gates, I stayed rooted to the same spot long after the sun had climbed over the mountains. The morning bustle around me blurred into meaningless noise, soldiers shouting orders, delegates preparing for negotiations, horses stamping on the ground. None of it reached me.
Only one thing mattered.
Elena was alive.
Elena was here.
And she was hiding something.
Something big.
Quinn returned after giving me space, stopping at my side with two cups of water. He handed one to me even though we both knew I wasn’t going to drink it.
“You can’t stalk the entrance forever,” he said quietly.
“I’m not stalking.”
“You’re standing like a statue and growling at anyone w
