Elena didn’t know how long she sat there on the cold floor. Minutes blurred into something heavier, thicker, time felt like a punishment instead of a measurement. The silence in the room pressed against her ears with the weight of a thousand secrets. Her fingers trembled as she braced herself on the wall, forcing her breaths to steady.
She couldn’t break.
Not now.
Not here.
Dante was alive. She felt it in the quiet tug in her chest, soft but persistent. The Crimson bond had changed them, tied them, and even distance couldn’t erase the faint pulse she felt when she closed her eyes and focused.
He was out there.
And he needed her as much as she needed him.
Elena pushed herself to her feet just as the door clicked. She tensed instantly, palms sweating, heart banging against her ribs. T
