Liam's heart slammed against his ribs as Cassandra stepped out of the shadows, her lips curving into a smile that carried the chill of a winter blade. The air in the narrow hallway thickened, heavy with the scent of damp stone and faint ozone. She tilted her head, eyes glowing with cruel amusement.
"Did you miss me?" she purred.
*'I should have seen this coming. Should have found a way out the second we stepped foot in this cursed place.'* Liam's face hardened, jaw tight. The girls, Beatrix and the others, pressed closer behind him, their breathing shallow and frightened. He could feel their fear like a living thing, and it twisted something deep in his chest. These weren't just companions. They were the only family he had left in this brutal world. He had dragged them here. He would get them out.
Before he could move, a shimmering barrier snapped into existence around them, glowing with sickly violet light. It sealed the hallway like a prison.
