Thump.
Thump-thump.
Thump-thump-thump.
The sound was deafening to her own ears. A pounding heartbeat that might as well have been the drumline of a horror movie where the heroine crouched behind a door, praying the ghost would not find her.
In all her years alive, Empress Gisella had never thought she would end up in such a position. Never had she thought she could feel this scared… yet this satisfied at the same time.
She had practically revived herself just to listen. And now, with her ears tuned to every word being spoken, her chest was about to burst.
Because the conversation happening before her was something she never thought she would hear in her lifetime.
Thump-thump-thump-thump.
"Luca," Xavier said evenly, his white-haired figure towering as he glanced at the gagged man struggling on the bed. His gaze flickered back to the boy in front of him. "Tell me. What did this man say to you earlier?"
