Ivy

They’d dragged me from my room, Dante muttering something about a visitor. I stumbled into the corridor, my mind still tangled with last night’s humiliation.

A figure stood at the end of the hall, and the moment I saw her face, my heart jumped, hope flaring before caution..

“Aunt…?” I whispered, rushing for her.

She turned, and for a moment, relief softened the sharp edges of fear inside me. But Lucien’s presence loomed just behind causing my steps to falter again. ...