//CLARA//
The front doors of the mansion loomed before us, dark and familiar. I had walked through them a hundred times before.
This time felt different. I was walking back into a cage I had only just escaped.
Casimir's hand pressed against the small of my back. Nothing that would raise suspicion. Just the firm guidance of a guardian steering his wayward ward through the door.
The foyer was empty.
I held my breath, waiting for the inevitable. But nothing moved. The grandfather clock ticked. A fire crackled in the drawing room. Somewhere upstairs, a maid hummed a tune I didn't recognize.
I let myself exhale. The breath shuddered out of me, and I felt the chain at my throat shift with the movement, the hidden ring rubbing against my collarbone.
"Upstairs," Casimir murmured, his voice barely disturbing the air. "Quickly."
We crossed the marble floor, our footsteps echoing off the high ceilings. The grand staircase was just ahead. Twenty more feet. Fifteen. Ten—
"Well."
