She was still breathing.
My pulse stopped.
No.
No—
That wasn't possible.
For years, every version of the story ended the same way.
Ava died.
Ava disappeared.
Ava wasn't saved.
But Rowan had just destroyed that story.
Lena looked frozen beside me.
Shock drained every bit of color from her face.
Mason stared at Rowan like he couldn't understand what he had heard.
Even Cross looked tense now.
And that terrified me.
Because if Cross already knew this—
Then everything had been a lie.
My voice barely worked.
"What did you say?"
Rowan's eyes met mine.
And I saw it.
Pain.
Years of it.
The kind that never healed.
The kind that poisoned everything it touched.
His voice shook.
"When I found her..."
The corridor groaned violently overhead.
Dust drifted downward.
Still—
No
