CHAPTER 44: NO WAY BACK
For a second, none of us moved. The silence inside that office became so heavy it felt like it was pressing against my chest, stealing the air from my lungs. The shadow beneath the door remained still, and somehow that was worse than movement. If they had walked past, we could have breathed again. But they hadn’t. They were standing there. Listening. Thinking. Waiting. Marcus looked like he might collapse right there beside the desk. His face had gone completely pale, and his hands were shaking so badly I thought he might drop something just from fear alone. Paul stood near the door, every muscle in his body tense, his eyes fixed on mine like he was already calculating ten different ways out and hating every single one of them. My phone was still in my hand, the f
