Elara
The words had already left my lips before I could think of how they might cut him.
"I’m not Seraphina… I’m Elara."
The castle corridor was silent except for the faint echo of my voice bouncing against the stone walls. The torches lining the hall flickered, shadows bending and stretching like claws reaching for us.
Xavier’s jaw tightened. His eyes cold steel under moonlight narrowed, but not with curiosity. With judgment. With something that felt like a blade pressed to my chest.
He didn’t speak. Not one word.
Instead, he stepped past me. The faint brush of his shoulder against mine was like ice sliding over my skin. He didn’t even look back. His boots clicked against the polished marble floor, fading into the distance.
That was it. No demand for proof. No sharp retort. No… an
