[Emma's POV]
The silence in my room was a fragile, high-tension wire, stretched to its breaking point. After the shadow’s violent, autonomous attack on Liora, I had become a danger to everyone around me. My sanctuary had transformed into a cell of my own making. I sat rigid in the center of the massive bed, a island in a sea of polished wood and luxurious fabric, my arms wrapped so tightly around my knees my joints ached. I dared not look too long at any patch of darkness, terrified it might look back.
Downstairs, the brothers’ argument was a constant, low-grade storm—muffled shouts, the thud of a fist on a table, Cain’s sharp, logical retorts slicing through Jaxon’s growls and Maddox’s rumbling threats. Their solidarity was crumbling under the weight of me, and I was the architect of t
