Chapter 145

VALENTINA The first thing I notice is the silence. Not the kind that comforts. The kind that presses on your lungs, weighing you down like a stone sinking in a river. I gasp, bolting upright in bed, my skin damp with sweat. My room is dim, curtains drawn, but light still leaks through in slivers, catching the faint glow on my wrist. The bracelet. I came last night to my room, almost dragged myself by Papa's help. After tucking me in bed, he left without a word and I didn’t know when I fell asleep. I glanced at my wrist, the white and red stones were still glowing. This damned thing clings to my skin, pulsing faintly as though mocking me. No matter how many times I tried to pry it off in the past, it never really responded truly, but now… now it’s alive. ‘You feel it, don’t you? The shadows cling still. But there’s more—’ Kira’s voice curls in my mind, lower, rougher than usual. ‘…Valentina…’ The echo returns. That faint, delicate whisper, almost like another heartbeat brushing against