Chapter 38 The Face Behind The Mask

• The midnight air on the Drayke mansion’s balcony felt heavy, carrying the scent of rain that had yet to fall. Cassian leaned against the iron railing, his eyes fixed on the courtyard below.
• Aveline stepped out from the main doors.
• Not the Aveline he’d seen earlier that evening—not the woman with the warm gaze when she was with Luca—but a cold, unfamiliar figure. Her hair was pulled back into a tight knot, her face sharpened by severe makeup, a long black coat wrapping her slender frame. Her stride was fast, purposeful, flanked by Adrian and four armed guards.