Chapter 47. Wrong Side of the Mirror

Elliot's POV

I pace the confines of my chamber, each step a battle between duty and desire. The news of Ally's departure, a whisper of leaves against stone, now roars like a tempest in my ears. She left for her plan, a reckless gambit that screams of desperation. My heart clenches with an iron grip of worry; it's more than I can bear.

"Elliot," Dawn's voice echoes in my head, a soothing balm. "She needs you."

I stop dead, every instinct honed by years of concealment and cunning rising to the surface. She does need me. Ally, alone in that den of wolves, Nathan's den. A surge of protectiveness propels me forward, past the point of no return. I shed my hesitation like a second skin, replaced by a steely resolve.

The palace looms before me, a formidable fortress bathed in silver light. Infiltrating it is a dance with death- Nathan's guards are ever vigilant, and his punishments for trespassers are the stuff of nig