Lucian and Shin returned to the mansion in silence, walking through shattered glass, broken wood, and burned silk. The garden, which hours earlier had been elegant and peaceful, now looked like the aftermath of a grotesque and bloody war.
Inside the mansion, Ebony and Daniel, still unconscious, were carried to the second floor by Shin, the two-and-a-half-meter-tall tree man, who held their bodies with a heavy calm, as if he were already used to gathering survivors.
On the second floor, Veronica was in Kanary's room. She lay on the bed, breathing normally, though still asleep. The cat girl hadn't moved from her spot and kept her gaze fixed between the bed and the door.
Lucian, exhausted and with his legs burned by the spiders' acid, lay down on the floor as soon as he entered the room. He didn't try to find a better position, he simply let his body fall where it no longer had to keep fighting.
