Josh’s POV

The silence in the Great Hall looms like a whisper unwilling to go, darkness in every nook and cranny for worry of what lies ahead. The firelight flickered unevenly against the cold stone walls of the Great Hall, casting long, restless shadows that seemed to twist and curl like ghosts from the past.

I stood at the center, alone, the silence pressing in like a physical weight. The words Lucan had spoken still hung thick and suffocating in the air.

"I don’t trust you."

Those ...