IVY'S POV
The drive blurred into something shapeless and endless. At some point, I had stopped screaming. I couldn't remember when but I did.
Now I just sat there, slumped against the cold leather seat, my head tilted slightly to the side, my gaze fixed on nothing while tears slid down my cheeks in a slow, unbroken line. I didn't bother to wipe them away. I wasn't even sure I felt them anymore.
Beside me, Nicholas sat in complete silence, unmoving, unreadable. He didn't look at me. He didn't speak. And somehow, that was worse.
When the car finally slowed, then stopped.
Nicholas stepped out first.
The moment his shoes touched the ground, the atmosphere outside changed so sharply it was almost physical.
"Welcome back, Lord Vault."
The sound pressed in from every direction, controlled and reverent, and still no one dared look at him.
His hand closed around my arm.
I didn't resist when he pulled me out of the car.
Then I saw it.
The mansion.
No—not a mansion.
A fortress.
