Callie’s POV
The heavy oak door of the Gold Room clicked shut behind me, sealing me inside, but I didn’t move immediately.
I just stood with my back pressed against the wood, staring out at the opulent cage I had just agreed to live in. The fire was still crackling in the hearth, casting warm, inviting light over the velvet furniture, but the room no longer felt like a sanctuary.
It felt like a waiting room.
Pushing off the door, I walked over to the window seat where Ace had been sitting earlier. The spot was empty now, but I could almost swear the scent of smoke and vanilla still lingered in the air, a ghost of his presence. Outside, the fog had thickened into a soup so dense I couldn’t see the ground, only the tops of the ancient pines swaying like black skeletons in the mist.
“I l
