Nicholas’s POV
“What the f**k has gotten into Hazel?”
I paced the length of my chamber like a caged animal, boots thudding against the floor. The room felt too small, the walls too close. My blood was still roaring from breakfast—from her voice snapping my name like it meant nothing, from the crack of her palm against Liora’s face, from the way the entire damn room had flinched when she slammed her hands on the table.
I’d been fine with the old Hazel.
The quiet one.
The invisible one.
The one who stayed in the shadows, never caused trouble, never looked me in the eye for longer than a second. She was easy to ignore. Easy to resent without ever having to deal with her.
But this?
This new Hazel could make an entire room tremble.
She’d slapped me last night—actually slapped me—and th
