The words hit her like a blow. Three days? She had thought, she swore, it was just one long night of battle. But three days had passed. Three days of uncertainty, while they all stood outside, unable to help, not knowing if she was alive or dead.
Carl's gentle face softened with relief, but for the first time since she had known him, there was fear behind his eyes, raw, shaken fear. He let out a long, trembling sigh, running a hand through his hair. "Thank God," he murmured, his voice almost cracking. "I thought I lost my little sister."
That word, sister, nearly broke her.
Arthur, however, didn't speak. He stood a few steps behind Carl, arms crossed, his expression utterly unreadable. His eyes locked on her, dark and silent.
There was no anger written on his face, but she could feel it, burning, restrained, buried so deep it made the air between them heavy.
