Had the world collapsed?
No.
Not literally.
But to Adeline, it felt like it had.
She walked away from the meeting spot, her footsteps slow, and heavy. The night air pressed against her skin, cool yet suffocating, as if the entire world had become too small to contain the weight of what she had just done.
Her heart pounded violently, the Goddess's wailing still ringing in her ears.
She had ignored it.
The pleading.
The desperate, frantic screams told her to stop.
But what else could she have done?
Her only ally in this twisted world was Edward, and even he was a double-edged sword. She couldn't trust him. Not completely. And now, her other companions—Dimitri, Benedict, Cassian—were shackled by a power she didn't understand.
She had no choice.
So she had gambled.