Taryn
I had left the dungeons as soon as Gavin started to scream. I couldn't bare to listen.
I was still sitting on the couch in my office when I heard the door open.
The moment I saw Caz step through, I stood.
He looked… wrecked.
His clothes were rumpled. A smear of soot traced along his jaw. His eyes—normally molten and soft for me—were hollowed out by something deeper. Not pain. Not fear. Something older. Something exhausted.
I crossed the room in two steps. “What happened?”
Caz didn’t answer right away. He closed the door behind him, leaned his weight against it like the act of standing took effort.
“I let him scream,” he said finally.
My heart twisted. “Did he hurt you?”
“No.” He ran a hand through his hair. “But he tried. Not physically. Not like that. He wanted to say the
