Griffin~
The chandelier's soft light flickered against the high ceiling of my living room, stretching shadows along the walls—long, thin fingers like ghosts, reaching, clawing. The room felt smaller, strangling, as if the very air had thickened around me. Even the crackling fireplace seemed to mock me, each pop and hiss a cruel reminder of the silence sinking in from all sides.
Sleep had become a distant memory. Food was nothing but dust on my tongue.
Ever since I learned the truth—that Natalie was the Celestial Princess—nothing had made sense.
I leaned forward, elbows braced on my knees, staring blankly at the fire as my father's voice cut through my thoughts, his words slamming into me through our mind-link.
"You still haven't found her?" His irritation curled around every syllable, sharp and unforgiving.
I exhaled through gritted teeth, pinching the bridge of my nose. "I told you," I muttered. "She vanished. Completely. And not just her—Cole Lucky disappeared too."
