Chapter 75. Finding the Vault

Alison’s POV

The air was thick with tension as I paced Simone’s hut, the soft flicker of candlelight casting elongated shadows against the walls. Every creak of the old wooden floor seemed louder than it should have been, each sound feeding my already frayed nerves. Simone sat at the corner table, her milky eyes staring into a void only she could see, her hands delicately tracing the edges of an old, yellowed map.

“You’re wearing a hole into the floor,” she finally said, her voice calm but with an edge of amusement.

I stopped mid-stride, folding my arms across my chest. “How can you be so calm? The Crimson Vault could be anywhere in this entire territory, and we have no idea where to start.”

Simone’s lips curved into a faint smile as she tilted her head in my direction. “Because panicking won’t bring us any closer to finding it. Sit down, Alison. Your restless energy is suffocating.”

Reluctantly, I dropped into a chair opposite her, the legs scra