Drevena pov

Silence.

Suffocating, thick silence—heavy enough to choke on.

Everyone was frozen in shock.

Dervic’s eyes were locked on me, wide and stunned, his mouth slightly agape as he tried to process the fact that I had just slapped him.

As he stared, the ticking of the clock seemed louder now, faster, as though it was desperately counting down to something.

He wasn’t the only one stunned.

Lilith, who had been trembling moments ago, whispering that we were going to die, caught in the middle of a panic attack, now stood frozen. Her eyes shook as she stared.

And as my grin stretched wider, my eyes glinting with a...