The room stood perfectly still.
Not a single Ash Circle guard moved.
Not even Eleanor Ashcroft spoke.
All eyes rested on the young woman standing in the doorway.
Grace.
Twenty years had changed her appearance.
She was no longer the frightened little girl from Lucas's memories or the smiling child in the old painting.
She stood with quiet confidence.
Dark curls rested over her shoulders.
A long scar crossed the back of her left hand.
Yet her eyes...
Her eyes still carried the same sadness Lucas remembered from long ago.
Lucas stared at her as if time itself had stopped.
"Grace..."
His voice barely escaped.
She looked at him.
A faint smile touched her lips.
"You remembered."
Lucas slowly shook his head.
"Not enough."
"But I remembered your eyes."
For a brief moment...
T
