Dear readers, please pretend this chapter never happened and skip immediately to the next one I was emotionally unstable, spiritually attacked, and clearly possessed while posting this.
She gently released her grip from mine, the warmth of her fingers lingering like a fading echo on my skin.
"Let me stay with you for now," she suggested softly, lowering herself onto the damp stone floor beside the bars. "While Elena tries to convince Nicholas."
I smiled and nodded, my heart giving a small, traitorous flutter at her words.
For a long moment, we sat in silence, the only sound the distant drip of water somewhere deeper in the cells.
Then ivy grew suddenly quiet, her fingers pinching at the hem of her dress, twisting the fabric nervously between them.
