Chapter 26:
………..
I left.
Not because I wanted to. Not because I was scared. But because the Queen's words were still echoing in my head—help me, please—and I didn't know what to believe anymore.
The car ride back to the safe house was silent.
Kael drove. Alaric sat in the back with me. Rafe followed in another car—always following, always watching—and didn't take his eyes off the road.
No one spoke.
No one knew what to say.
---
The safe house was quiet when we got back.
I walked straight to the bedroom—the big one, the one with the silk sheets and the chandelier—and closed the door.
I didn't cry.
I didn't scream.
I just sat on the bed and stared at the wall.
The mark on my neck was pulsing. The bond was pulling. And somewhere deep inside me, something was changing.
Forty-ei
