Chapter 119

• Cesmae's POV
• I pace outside Raizel’s door, my every step a battle between hope and dread. The steady hum of voices from inside the room—doctor, nurses, the beeping of machines—feels like a countdown to something I can't accept. My heart slams painfully against my ribs, my hands shaking as I clasp them together, as if in prayer. All I can do now is wait, clinging to the thin thread of hope that Raizel will pull through, somehow, despite the doctor’s dire prediction.
• The return to the palace had been a blur of fear and desperation. As soon as I could feel my legs again, I’d crawled out of that cursed cave, shouting for help as loudly as I could. By some miracle, a group of travelers appeared just when I was about to collapse. They looked between Raizel's lifeless body and the grotesque remains of Kylian’s monster form, their eyes wide with shock, but not one of them questioned me. They didn't seem to care that I was a werewolf as well or they were just too preoccupied to notice.