/-Zara-/

The sound of the creaking door snapped me out of the daze I didn’t even realize I’d fallen into.

For a while, no one moved. Not me. Not Draven. The silence was so sharp I could hear my own pulse pounding so loudly in my ears.

And then, there he was—Maleek.

He stood in the doorway, the dim candlelight flickering over his sharp features. His storm-grey eyes darted between Draven and me, and I watched the muscle in his jaw twitch as realization sank in.

The room suddenly felt ...