Eloise’ POV
“What the hell was that?” The words slipped from my mouth before I could stop them, the sound of the explosion still ringing in my ears. It had been loud enough to disrupt the atmosphere, but not enough to rattle me completely.
I felt a strange emotion settle over me, almost as if the noise hadn't truly registered, as if it was something that had happened far away, removed from my own reality. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever had occurred near me was far from ordinary.
Vince and I had been growing increasingly bored with the event. The social atmosphere of the gathering, the endless pleasantries and forced smiles, had been suffocating.
So, when we decided to step out for a while, it felt like a welcome escape. Vince had taken me to a nearby market, a hidd
