Chapter 182

The aftermath didn’t come with cheers.

It came with quiet.

The kind that settles after something dangerous has passed—not because it’s gone forever, but because it’s no longer pretending to be harmless.

Selena didn’t return.

Not that night.

Not the next.

The forest remained watchful but still, like a predator that had chosen patience over pursuit.

Caleb ordered no search parties.

“No banners,” he told the guards. “No proclamations. If she wants to vanish, we ...