Chapter 257

• Sabine POV
• All I want is to lock myself away. To hide inside the quiet sanctuary of the bedroom. For someone who has spent so long craving freedom, I can’t ignore the irony in wanting nothing more than isolation again.
• I return to the room I was sharing with Maurice, and his scent hits me the moment I step inside. It’s grown stronger over the past few days rich coffee and warm cinnamon, comforting in a way that makes my chest ache. It reminds me of festive drinks Mum used to buy when we wandered through the city at Christmas, window-shopping beneath extravagant department-store displays. Every year there were lights and colour and magic, and every year we walked with nowhere to be, just soaking it all in.