Rosalia — POV
Cassel's hug was warm—overly almost burning, as if every muscle in his body had been radiating heat like liquid metal beneath the skin.
But in that second, as the fire in that embrace enveloped me, a chill ran deep in my bones.
It wasn't a mild cold, nor one that crept over the skin's surface.
No—this chill was deep inside me, a heavy coldness sitting in my chest, spreading slowly, hollowing me out from within.
I wasn't scared of Cassel murdering anyone.
No… that fear had long ago been replaced by something else-something more weighty and much more painful.
What gnawed at me, what twisted my insides until they seemed raw, was the sorrow and compassion I felt for the small girl shivering softly in my embrace.
A small, fragile creature, clinging on tightly, oblivious to the storm that starts to rise around her.
The only protection I could give her from the storm brewing around us was the embrace that I wrapped her in.
