Chapter 57

• Nina
• The room was deathly quiet, with only the steady ticking of a clock on the far wall breaking the silence. Time seemed to slow down as I knelt before Lucas, feeling the chill of the marble floor beneath me. The oppressive atmosphere weighed heavily on us, like a looming storm ready to unleash its fury.
• He hadn’t spoken since Scar had been dragged away. His stillness was a different kind of torment, his silence a sharpened blade hanging over my neck. I kept my gaze fixed downward, the shadows of the room creeping toward me, threatening to consume what little strength I had left.