Chapter 98 The Scarlet Crest

• The silence stretched like a blade between us. Every second ticked by heavier than the last. I could feel the air thickening, pressing down on my lungs, squeezing until I wasn’t sure I could take another breath.
• Laura’s eyes never left mine. Ronan, the wolf by the door, stood stiff and silent, ears pinned back like he sensed a storm about to hit. The book sat between us on the table like a loaded weapon, humming with something old—something I didn’t understand.
• And I—I stood there, frozen, wishing I could vanish.