Esme's POV
The hallway was long, narrow, and silent. Only the faint hum of music from outside bled through the heavy walls as Raven led me toward a single iron door at the end. The lights here were dimmer, the air heavier, colder like the walls themselves were warning me to turn back.
But I didn’t.
We stopped before the door. My heart pounded softly in my chest, and before I could ask where we were or what exactly we were doing here, a deep male voice from inside commanded,
“Enter.”
Just one word. Calm, low, and absolute.
Raven smiled — a small, knowing curl of her lips and nodded. “Come on,” she said lightly, as if we’d been invited to a casual dinner.
She pushed the door open.
The room was dark not the kind of darkness that frightened you immediately, but the kind that made you
