The black carriage rolled through the night like a shadow devouring the road. Its wheels whispered over the dirt, and inside, silence pressed thick and heavy between the three souls within.
Elia sat curled at Anana’s side, her head resting against her shoulder, trembling from exhaustion. Anana’s arm wrapped around her protectively, soothing her with gentle strokes, though her own thoughts were far from calm.
Across from them sat Lucien. His long frame seemed too powerful for the confines of the carriage. The dim lantern light caught the hard lines of his jaw, the glacial blue of his eyes… eyes that kept straying to Anana.
Every time her gaze brushed his, something electric crackled. It wasn’t spoken, it didn’t need to be. The space between them pulsed with restrained hunger, with unspok
