Chapter 18

Amelia

“Where are your clothes?” Nickolas’s voice cuts through the tense silence, his grip on my arm still firm and causing a sharp pang of pain to shoot through me.

Despite the discomfort, I refrain from speaking, knowing that it’s best not to say anything to make the situation worse.

“Ember took them,” I respond truthfully, not hesitating to divulge the facts of the matter. After all, it’s not as though Nickolas would take any action against her for her actions.

“Hmm, she did,” Nickolas murmurs, more to himself than to me, his grip tightening further before he finally releases me.

I massage the tender area where his fingers had dug in, silently waiting for him to speak further. To my surprise, he doesn’t reprimand me or demand further explanations. Instead, he disappears momentarily, only to return with my dress—or rather, Ember’s dress—in hand.

My brows knit together in confusion as Nickolas offers me the garment; his actions are unexp