Todos los capítulos de SHADES OF ICE AND ASHES : Capítulo 51 - Capítulo 57

LILA’S POVI stepped off the small boat and onto the wooden walkway. The boards felt warm under my bare feet, slightly rough from years of salt air and sun. Clear turquoise water stretched out on every side, so transparent in places that I could see the pale sand below and the quick silver flashes of fish darting between the stilts. The private villa sat elevated above the lagoon like something that belonged more to the sea than to land. Its dark wood frame and thatched roof looked almost weightless against the bright sky. Soft white curtains moved in the steady breeze. Glass panels ran through sections of the floor, and wide open decks wrapped around the entire structure so that the ocean felt like part of the rooms themselves. I walked inside and turned in a slow circle. The high ceiling rose above me, open and airy. A massive bed faced the water, its white linens already turned down and waiting. Beyond the living area an infinite edge dropped straight into the sea with no visibl

LILA’S POVI stayed in the low chair exactly as Zane told me to. The last of the evening light drained out of the sky and the lagoon turned dark blue under a thin scatter of stars. Soft waves brushed the sand in a steady rhythm. A few other guests still sat farther down the path, their voices low, but most had already started walking back toward the main buildings. I kept my eyes on the direction he had gone. Twenty minutes passed. Then more. My hands rested on my stomach without me thinking about it. The baby shifted once, a small roll that made me sit up straighter.He had not gone to answer any call. I knew that the second he stood up. He had gone after the man in the plain shirt and cap. The one who had matched our every move. The longer I sat there the tighter my chest got. What if the man had not been alone? What if Zane had run into trouble on the darker stretch of beach past the palms? I stood up causing the chair to scrape lightly against the sand. I started walking the s

LILA’S POVI watched Zane fall asleep with his back to me, the sheets pulled only to his waist and one arm tucked under the pillow. The villa stayed quiet except for the soft slap of water against the stilts below and the occasional distant cry of a bird over the lagoon. The moonlight cut thin silver lines across the floor through the open curtains. He had not mentioned Marcus again after we left the balcony. Not one word about the call, the hate in his brother’s eyes, or the years of blame. His breathing eventually evened out, yet the set of his shoulders stayed tight even in sleep, a quiet tension that never fully left. I shifted closer and rested a hand on the slight curve of my stomach. I knew the silence did not mean the subject had left him. It sat in the room like another person, heavy and unspoken. I decided then that the next day would not start the same way. I would pull him out of it even if he never asked me to.Morning light came in soft and gold, warming the white lin