Chapter 11

• Damien’s eyes softened with understanding, and he pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly against him. For a moment, they stood there in the quiet garden, the only sound the distant rustle of the trees in the breeze.
• “You don’t have to do this alone,” he murmured. “I’m here. We’re in this together. And no matter what happens, I won’t let anything happen to you. I swear it.”
• Elara clung to him, finding comfort in his words, in the warmth of his embrace. But even as she closed her eyes, allowing herself to take solace in his presence, she couldn’t ignore the nagging feeling in the back of her mind—the feeling that the worst was yet to come.