Hailey's POV
The rain had begun to fall again—not in violent sheets this time, but in soft, rhythmic drops that tapped against the castle's windows like a ticking clock I couldn't ignore.
I was staring into the fire when I heard the knock.
Not the hurried kind that comes with danger, but the hesitant, lingering knock of someone who didn't quite believe they belonged here anymore.
"Ava," I said, already knowing before the door even opened.
She stepped inside like a ghost. Her eyes, those calculating eyes I had once feared—were red-rimmed, her cloak soaked through, and her hands trembling at her sides.
"I didn't come to fight," she said quietly.
"Good. Because I'm tired," I replied, folding my arms.
