VIV’S POV
The Blackwood Mansion has always been magnificent up close. It had the kind of beauty that slapped you in the face, then dared you to be worthy of it. But I knew better than to go close to it.
Kaelon might think that I was here to steal and might use that against me. I sighed.
I walked with Martha towards the sidewalk leading up to the main estate. It was as if she was treading with caution too. But the walk still felt longer than it should have, mostly because I was waddling like a penguin and trying to keep the tension in my chest from boiling over.
Martha Rhys walked in front of me, measured and composed, the kind of woman who had probably learned to weaponize silence before she learned to speak.
We didn’t talk until we entered the shaded terrace far away from any of the
