Elias’s POV

The door clicked shut behind Ronan, and the silence that followed felt heavier than anything that had happened today.

I stared at the door for a long second, then another.

My heartbeat was too loud, too fast, like it couldn’t decide whether to panic or calm down without Ronan’s presence anchoring it.

I swallowed hard, pulling the blanket tighter around my shoulders.

He left to stop Hale. He said he would come back.

But the room felt different without him.

Too empty, too ...