CHAPTER 7

AXELLE

I haven't heard a single sound from the bathroom, not even the faintest echo of a footstep or a murmur. It had been more than an hour since I sent that desperate message to Miles, and still, there was no sign of him. 

I couldn't really blame him, though. Gaining access to this place was practically an impossible task, and I knew it.

I had been banging on the door for so long that the skin on my palms had started to blister and peel, each strike against the hard surface becoming more painful than the last. 

Eventually, exhaustion overtook my strength, and I slumped down onto the cold, unforgiving tiles, defeated. 

My back pressed against the wall, and I let out a long, weary sigh, resigning myself to the reality that I might be stuck here until Adan decided to unlock the bathroom door, if he ever did.

Time seemed to drag on slowly until I heard it—the soft, almost imperceptible sound of a lock clicking open.