Nina clenched her fists even as the ropes bit into her wrists. Her Patron had gone silent—abruptly, halfway through a sentence.
One moment he'd been trying to warn her. The next, just… gone.
"Hey. Hey, are you still there?"
She whispered into the empty room.
Nothing.
The silence pressed in too fast, too heavy.
"Come on, say something, dammit—"
Still nothing.
Her heart lurched. The quiet wasn't just quiet—it was dead. The weight of it made her chest tighten, her breath shaky.
She shifted again, trying to keep herself grounded, but the panic was clawing up her spine fast.
She didn't see the door open.
Didn't hear the footsteps.
The only sign that something had changed was the sudden drop in air pressure—as if the very room was holding its breath.
Then she felt it.
A presence.
Nina stilled. Slowly, she lifted her gaze.
