Chapter 247: The Quiet Between Heartbeats
Orion followed Marta without protest. Marta shut the door behind them with a soft click and steered him toward a narrow corner a distance away from where Sophia lay unmoving on the bed.
Outside, the earliest hints of dawn were beginning to lift the sky. The storm had passed, leaving behind a heavy, trembling hush. Water dripped steadily from rooftops and gutters, each drop echoing faintly in the quiet corridor. The air smelled of wet earth and washed-clean cold. Birds, brave or foolish, were already singing in the distant trees — soft notes woven through the fading rumble of thunder far away. It was the kind of dawn that didn't quite know if it was ready to embrace the day or sink back into night.
For all the kindness she could show, Marta had a bluntness that left no room for the polite fog of excuse. She leveled Orion with a sharp look.
"What the hell just happened?" she demanded.
