Chapter 45 — Into the Unknown
Kiera's chest felt like it would burst. The hand gripping her shoulder wasn't Kade's, and yet she couldn't resist being pulled forward. Every instinct screamed to fight—but she couldn't move. Leo clung to her arm, tiny fingers digging into her skin.
"Let go!" she hissed, but the whisper came again, soft and taunting.
"Not until you understand, Queen."
The darkness seemed alive, walls breathing around them, shifting as they moved deeper into the mansion's hidden corridors. Kiera could hear her own heartbeat, loud and irregular, mingling with the faint clicking of the stranger's shoes.
"Kade!" she called desperately. "Kade, where are you?"
Her voice echoed back, swallowed by the void. Only the whisper replied.
"Quiet now. Listen. You'll need your wits where he cannot follow."
