Chapter 179: First Attendance
Meredith.
The ride felt longer than it was, though I knew it couldn’t have been more than twenty minutes.
I kept my eyes on the shadows of the buildings passing by, my body pressed into the seat beside Draven.
His presence was like a silent mountain next to me: steady, immovable. But my heart still wouldn’t stop its restless flutter.
When we finally pulled up, I stepped out of the car and felt a shiver slide over my skin.
The place was nothing like I’d imagined: an old, half-collapsed warehouse tucked deep among forgotten roads.
The corrugated metal walls groaned against the wind, and shards of broken glass glinted under the pale moonlight like dull teeth.
For a moment, I hesitated, my breath misting in the cold night air. But Draven stepped around the car to my side, and I moved closer until my arm brushed against his.
Inside, the warehouse felt even larger, darker—and frighteningly alive. Hundreds of unfamiliar faces turned toward us as soon as we stepped through the cracked doorway.
Some stood together in small clusters, their cloaks drawn tight. Others leaned on broken pillars or perched on crates, silent but watchful.
Their gazes found me. All hundreds of them.