The carriage didn’t stop until the iron gates of the Dark Wood estate creaked open, swallowing us into the belly of the beast.
I hadn’t stopped shaking. My face was a mask of salt and grief, my mind still back in that forest, pressed against the wooden door, listening to the ghost of Caden’s voice telling me he loved me. I was so lost in the wreckage of my heart that I didn’t notice the carriage door fly open.
My father didn’t offer a hand when he opened the door. He didn’t even bother to play the part of the concerned parent for the guards watching from their positions, he reached in, grabbed my arm roughly, and hauled me out.
I stumbled, my weak leg giving out, and I hit the gravel of the courtyard on my knees. Before I could even draw a breath to steady myself, the world exploded in
