Chapter 93Nicolas POV

The first thing I noticed was the silence.

It wasn't the natural stillness of dawn, nor the quiet hum of night. It was deeper, pressing against my ears as though the world itself had stopped breathing. Slowly, my lashes lifted, and I blinked against the pale haze of morning filtering through the trees.

And there she was.

Her face hovered above me, calm and composed, framed by the delicate sway of leaves overhead. Her expression was unreadable-neither soft nor ...