WHEN THE SHADOWS SPOKE
Chapter 36 Damian took the rose with him as he stormed out of the garden with Elena. Blood dripped from his hand where the thorns had cut him. His fury had turned the estate into a hive of motion; guards swarming, radios hissing, hounds loosed into the forest. The night was shattered by searchlights and gunfire that echoed too close for Elena’s heart to bear. And yet, when dawn broke, no one had been caught. It was as if the shadows themselves had mocked them, stepping inside Damian’s fortress, leaving their mark, then vanishing into the air. At midnoon, Elena made her way to the garden again; she sat at the edge of the fountain where the rose had been; her fingers curled tight in her lap. The water rippled softly, reflecting a pale sky streaked with gray, as she remembered the inc
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