SERAPHINA'S POV
Her lips were still trembling, but then my hands stopped without intending to. The motion died in my fingers as though something inside me had severed the command. I let her go, too gently for someone who had come here with a purpose, and eased her back onto the bed instead of finishing what I had started.
"What's wrong?" she asked, her voice weak, shaking in a way that didn't match the girl I knew could endure far worse. Too weak. It unsettled me more than it should have.
I didn't answer. I couldn't.
The silence between us stretched, thick and suffocating, before I turned away, crossing the room without another word. I shut the door quietly behind me, as if even the sound might break something fragile I didn't understand, and walked out of the coven entirely. The night air hit me, cool and sharp, but it did nothing to steady the chaos clawing at my chest.
