The tension in the room was like a wire stretched to its limit.
The door creaked open softly.
Nox.
He entered without asking permission, as if the space already belonged to him. As if none of us watching him posed any kind of threat.
He was dressed the same as always: black from head to toe, wrapped in that coat that seemed to devour the light around him.
Kael tensed.
Lean was already between him and me.
Tony stepped forward, and Zack, from the back, shifted his hand toward his weapon.
But I didn’t stop them.
Not this time.
I stepped forward.
"Stop pretending, Nox. I know who you are. And what you did."
Nox tilted his head like a curious bird and smiled. It wasn’t mockery. It wasn’t triumph either. It was a... hollow smile.
"And what am I, Selene? A crow picking at corpses? A
