Empty Embrace

Hazel’s POV:

I froze as his strong arms wrapped around me like a shield, his warmth closing in on me. The suddenness of it startled me—one moment I was standing there, the next he was clutching me as if his life depended on it. My mind spun with questions. What was he doing here? How had he even found Mr. Vane’s house? Rigid as a soldier on parade, I stood locked in his embrace, caught between sho