Chapter Eighty Four

TESSA

Stella, as I learned her name was, had returned two hours ago. Her demeanor was calm, almost too calm for the situation. She had assured me that she'd done her part, and that soon I'd be free to go home. But the word home felt like a distant dream—a fragile whisper in the storm of my thoughts. Hope was dangerous. Life had made that abundantly clear. And yet, against my better judgment, a sli