Noelle noticed the change in my expression and grabbed my arm, steadying me. “You okay?”
I nodded, though my mind was still racing with doubts. Elenora’s timing, her sudden involvement now that the witch was defeated, gnawed at me. I wanted to believe she was on our side, but everything felt too convenient. Why didn’t she help sooner?
“We need to move,” Samuel said, his voice steady despite his obvious exhaustion. He wiped the blood from his lip, the result of the witch’s attack. “If this witch’s heart is hidden, it could be anywhere. And if she’s only weakened, we’re still in danger.”
Elenora turned toward him, her dark eyes unreadable. “The heart will be somewhere close. Hollows don’t stray far from their source of life. But we have to hurry.”
I watched her carefully, still uncertain
