Sleep eluded me. Edward's voice haunted my thoughts, Charlie's silence weighed heavily on my mind, and Tristan's distance cut deeper than I wanted to admit. My chest ached with a million thoughts and fears that refused to settle.
I decided to slip out onto the balcony, hoping that the night air would calm me. Below, the Donovan estate sprawled out, its gardens illuminated in silver moonlight, shadows stretching across the manicured hedges.
Then, I froze.
I heard voices, low, hushed, urgent.
Leaning against the railing, my heart raced as I strained to listen.
"…Donovan's girl…"
My blood ran cold; they were talking about me.
"…move soon… weakest link…"
My breath caught as their words sliced through me like knives. Weakest link. That's how they viewed me, as a target.
I tried to step back quietly, but the old wooden floor creaked under my weight. Suddenly, the voices stopped. Silence hung in the air, heavy and tense, before one of them hissed, "Did you hear that?"
Panic surged through me. I turned and rushed back inside, fumbling with the balcony door. My hands shook so badly that the handle slipped out of my grasp once, then twice, before I finally managed to shove it closed and stumble backward into the room.
The knock at my door nearly made me scream.
"Ellie?"
It was Tristan's voice, deep, controlled, but urgent.
I yanked the door open, my chest heaving. The moment Tristan saw my face, pale and wide-eyed, his expression darkened. His hand gripped my arm to steady me. "What happened?"
I opened my mouth, but only a whisper escaped. "The garden. Voices. They… they were talking about me."
His jaw clenched, and for a moment I saw something terrifying in his eyes, not anger, but the kind of cold fury that promised violence.
Without a word, he pulled me into the hall, his body shielding mine as if the walls themselves couldn't be trusted. He barked an order to the guard stationed near the stairs, his tone lethal, and the man bolted into action.
Only then did Tristan lower his voice, his hand still on my arm.
"Ellie, you can't walk around alone. Not here. Not anymore."
I swallowed hard, the weight of his warning pressing down on me. For the first time, I truly understood that his world wasn't just dangerous in theory. It was real, pressing at the edges, ready to swallow me whole.
Instead of fear, a strange calm settled over me. I met his gaze, my voice steadier than I expected. "Then don't leave me alone."
Something flickered in his eyes, the pain, the longing, maybe both. He gave the slightest nod, his grip on me tightening as if he would never let go.
In the garden, shadows move quickly as two intruders escape. One whispers, "Donovan won't know what hit him."