<h4>Chapter 523: Leaving Them Behind</h4>


    <strong>Evaline:</strong>


    I squeezed Draven’s hand gently, my fingers wrapped around his cold ones as if warmth alone could will him back to me.


    I had been sitting beside his bed for nearly half an hour now, long enough for the silence to feel heavy, long enough for the ache in my chest to deepen instead of dull. I hade down here to bid him farewell... to tell him goodbye, to promise I would see him again during the weekend.


    But my feet refused to move.


    Every time I told myself - <i>just one more minute</i> - that minute stretched into another. And then another.


    So here I was, still perched on the small stool beside his bed, still holding his hand like letting go might mean losing him all over again.


    Draveny there exactly as he had for the past two months - too still, too quiet, his chest rising and falling softly. His face was calm, almost peaceful, as if he were merely sleeping after a long, exhausting day. If someone didn’t know better, they might think he was dreaming.


    I knew better.


    My thumb brushed slowly over his knuckles, memorizing the feel of him as if my body feared forgetting. "I’ll be back before you know it," I whispered, even though he couldn’t hear me. "You better wake up soon... I don’t like doing all the talking alone."


    My throat tightened.


    The door behind me opened softly.


    I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.


    River’s presence wrapped around me even before his hand came to rest on my shoulder, warm and grounding. His voice was gentle when he spoke, but firm in the way that told me he had already waited as long as he could.


    "Angel," he said quietly. "It’s time for us to leave."


    My heart clenched painfully.


    I nodded, though every part of me resisted the motion. I didn’t want to leave. Not Draven. Not this room. Not the fragile sense of closeness I felt just by sitting here with him.


    River stepped closer to the bedside, his movements careful, respectful. He reached for the small table beside Draven’s bed and pulled open the middle drawer. The soft scrape of wood against wood echoed too loudly in the silence.


    He pulled something out.


    The moment I saw it, my breath hitched.


    It was Draven’s favorite keychain.


    The one he always carried with him. The one he used to fidget with absentmindedly when he was thinking. I had seen it hanging from his bag more times than I could count.


    River took my hand gently and ced the keychain into my palm.


    "Keep it with you," he said softly.


    I curled my fingers around it immediately, as if afraid it might disappear. The metal was cool against my skin, familiar in a way that made my chest ache all over again.


    I stood slowly, my legs unsteady. Leaning down, I pressed a kiss to Draven’s cold lips, lingering there for just a second longer than necessary. I cupped his cheek with my free hand, my thumb brushing his skin.


    "We are going to bring you back," I promised, my voice trembling despite my effort to keep it steady. "All of us. So you better be ready."


    Then I turned away.


    If I stayed even a second longer, I knew I wouldn’t be able to leave at all.


    River guided me out of the room, his hand firm around mine, steadying me as the door closed behind us with a quiet finality.


    When we reached the ground floor, Madam Elira was waiting in the living room.


    And she was holding Lioren.


    The moment my son saw me, his entire face lit up, a bright, innocent smile stretching across his tiny features. The sight of it hit me harder than I expected.


    "Oh...e here, my love," I breathed.


    I took him into my arms immediately, cradling him close. His small body fit against me perfectly, his warmth seeping into my chest. I kissed his cheek again and again, inhaling his scent like I needed it to survive theing days.


    "I’m going to miss you so much," I whispered into his soft hair. "Mama loves you. So, so much."


    I rested his face against my corbone, holding him tighter than necessary,mitting the weight of him to memory.


    After a long moment, I forced myself to pull back and handed him gently to Madam Elira.


    "Take good care of him," I said, my voice thick.


    She smiled warmly. "Always, mydy. I promise."


    River patted Lioren softly on the head before he took my hand then, his grip reassuring, and led me toward the front doors. Every step away from Lioren felt wrong, like my body was protesting a separation it didn’t understand.


    Outside, he opened the back door of the car for me. I slid inside, ncing back at the mansion onest time before he joined me. The driver started the engine, and the car rolled forward, slowly pulling away from the estate.


    I stared out of the window as the gates loomed ahead, my reflection faintly visible in the ss... my eyes shining with unshed tears I refused to let fall.


    Leaving Lioren behind hurt in a way I hadn’t been prepared for. Knowing I wouldn’t be home until the weekends, that I would miss his small changes, his expressions, the little moments that would nevere back... it tore at something deep inside me.


    River’s hand came to rest on my thigh, squeezing gently.


    "I’ll take care of him," he said quietly. "And Draven too. You have my word."


    I looked at him and nodded, swallowing hard.


    After a moment, he nced at me again. "Are you still mad at me aboutst night?"


    I huffed softly, turning my gaze back to the window. "Don’t talk about it."


    Just thinking about it made my frustration re all over again. I had been so close. <i>So close.</i>


    He smiled faintly but said nothing more.


    The rest of the ride passed in afortable silence. Eventually, the car slowed and came to a stop in front of the prison building.


    River led me inside, down cold stone corridors and into the dungeons. The air grew heavier with each step, the weight of what I was about to do settling over me.


    When we reached Marcus’s cell, I stopped.


    "Wait here," I told River, turning to face him.


    He opened his mouth to protest, but one look from me had him sighing in resignation.


    "I’ll be right outside," he said. "Call me if you need me."


    I nodded and only then did he open the door for me.


    I took in a deep breath... and then stepped inside.