Eira's POV
The garden always gave me a strange kind of stillness. Not peace,I stopped believing in peace a long time ago,but something quieter than the constant hum of noise inside the estate. Out here, the world felt distant. Filtered. Soft.
But that night, the silence felt wrong.
I stepped over the worn cobblestones, my boots brushing against the fallen petals from the blood roses lining the path. The air was cool and damp from the evening drizzle, earthy in a way that clung to the skin. Even the moonlight felt wet, pressing against me like fog.
I was halfway to the old greenhouse when I heard it.
A voice. Low. Urgent.
I froze.
It came from the far corner, near the ivy-covered wall that wrapped around the gardener's shed. I crouched behind the twisted fig tree and crept forward, my heart hammering in my chest. I recognized the voice before I saw him.
Cassian.
My stomach sank.
