I watched as Ivan disappeared into the crowded cafeteria blending seamlessly with the students milling about. My heart was racing and my mind still reeling from what had just transpired. I had said yes. I had agreed to leave with him, to run away from all of this—Judas, Lucius, the entire Romanovski world.
I should’ve felt relief, but instead, all I could feel was the heavy weight of dread settling over my chest like a shroud. I could still hear his words in my head. Two days. That was all it would take for us to escape. Switzerland, he said. A fresh start. Far from the claws of Judas and the webs he build around me.
But was it even possible? Could I really trust Ivan?
My fingers twitched, the memory of his touch still lingering, a ghostly warmth that contrasted with the cold, gnawing u
