Evelyn POV
The moment our car turned into the street leading toward Halcyon headquarters, I knew something had changed.
Not slightly.
Not quietly.
Completely.
Cars lined both sides of the road in uneven rows, their polished surfaces flashing beneath the morning sun while cameras and microphones crowded the entrance of the towering glass building ahead, the noise already spilling into the street long before we got close enough to stop. Reporters stood shoulder to shoulder behind temporary barricades, some speaking rapidly into cameras while others scanned every arriving vehicle with restless anticipation, and even from inside the car I could feel the aggressive energy radiating from the crowd like heat.
Liora slowed the car instinctively.
"Oh no," she muttered under her breath.
I stared ahead silently.
The article.
Last night's article had spread far wider than I thought.
And now people were waiting.
Waiting to see me.
Waiting to judge me.
