SERAPHINE
The room was silent except for the soft crackle of the fireplace. I sat by the flames, cradling my ribs, feeling the sharp sting of every shallow breath. My body ached, bruises blooming across my skin like cruel reminders of Maddox’s fury. My mind, however, hurt more than my flesh.
The girl.
The moment I saw her from the pictures, I couldn’t breathe. She was like a mirror to a past I had tried so hard to bury, and now, here she was—older, stronger, and yet, somehow, unmistakably… her.
I sucked in a shaky breath and winced, the pain in my chest a brutal warning not to breathe too deeply. My hands trembled as I pressed the damp cloth against the gash on my arm. The firelight danced against the walls, casting shadows that seemed to mock me.
Could it really be her? Couldn’t it b
