Chapter 69
The compound no longer felt like a fortress. It felt like a staging ground. Every hallway echoed with footsteps that carried urgency, every corner smelled of sweat and adrenaline, every conversation was cut short with half-answers and clipped promises of later. Later never seemed to come. Tessa stood on the balcony outside her shared room, staring across the treeline. The sunrise broke the sky into molten copper, and for the first time in weeks, the world looked deceptively beautiful. But beauty had teeth. She could feel them pressing closer with every heartbeat. Dastien joined her, sliding an arm around her waist. He smelled like steel and cedar, his hair damp from the shower, his body taut with barely checked energy. His presence grounded her, even when the tension vibrating through h
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