Odette's POV
"Check the perimeter!"
"Seal the gates!"
"Search the towers—now!"
My pulse spiked.
I'd never heard anything like it before. Not once since I'd been here.
The air filled with tension so thick I could taste it.
"What's happening?" I whispered, though there was no one to answer.
I stood slowly, my legs unsteady. The floor vibrated faintly beneath my feet with every step taken outside. I reached out toward the wall, my fingers brushing cold stone, needing the anchor.
The bells kept ringing, louder, closer, until they were all I could hear.
Something had happened. Something big.
And deep down, beneath the confusion and fear, a single thought flickered through my mind.
He did this.
The bells kept screaming.
It was deafening—low, metallic roars that shook the walls and sent shivers through my bones. I pressed my hands over my ears, but it didn't help. The sound was everywhere: vibrating through the bed frame, the floorboards, the air itself.
