Ava stood at the edge of the old wooden table, her fingers tracing the delicate edges of the locket Noah had just handed her. The symbol on it felt so familiar, as though it were part of a dream she'd had long ago. She couldn't shake the nagging feeling that the answers she was seeking were right there, within her reach, but the moment she tried to grasp them, they slipped through her fingers.
Noah stood across from her, silent as ever, watching her with a guarded expression. His gaze was distant, though she could tell his mind was racing. She wanted to scream at him, to demand he tell her everything—but that would change nothing. Not yet.
"You're not going to tell me, are you?" Ava finally whispered, her voice laced with a mixture of frustration and helplessness.
Noah shifted slightly, as if struggling to choose his words. "I'm protecting you."
Ava's heart tightened. She'd heard this excuse before. "Protecting me? By keeping me in the dark? How is that protecting me, Noah?"
He didn't answer, and for a long, unbearable moment, they both stood there, the weight of unspoken words hanging heavy between them. Ava looked down at the locket again, her pulse quickening. The connection to her father, the connection to Dorian Hale—it was all a tangled mess she couldn't seem to untangle.
Noah noticed the way she gripped the locket. "Ava, please…"
The plea in his voice broke something inside her. She could see the pain in his eyes—genuine pain. But what was it hiding? And how much of it was tied to the world she was still trying to understand?
The sound of footsteps broke the silence. Jasper's voice called out from the doorway. "You two might want to hear this."
Ava's heart skipped a beat. Her stomach twisted. What now? She exchanged a brief, troubled glance with Noah before following Jasper down the hallway, the weight of the locket still heavy in her hand.