The cell door closed with a sound Elara felt in her bones.
Metal against metal. Final. Unforgiving.
Adrian did not look back when they led him away. That hurt more than if he had.
She stood in the hallway long after everyone else had gone. Police lights bled through the windows, staining the walls red and blue. It felt like the world was being split into pieces and she was standing right in the fracture.
Marcus approached quietly. “You should not be here anymore.”
She nodded absently. “I know.”
“You are not safe.”
“I have not been safe for a long time.”
That stopped him.
“Elara,” Marcus said carefully, “whatever you are thinking, Adrian would not want you involved.”
She finally looked at him. “That is the second time someone has decided what Adrian wants instead of asking me what
