s, but the kind of gray light that only made exhaustion sharper. I hadn't slept. Every time I closed my ey

ence. My body tensed at the sound, but I turned quickly, smoot

already?" she whispered,

kiss to her forehead. "Go back to sl

re a moment longer, watching the fragile rise and fall of her chest. My he

clung to the corners. I wrapped my coat tighter, my boots crunching against cracked pavement. The air smell

I s

ack

e. Parked across

neighborhood. The tinted windows stared back like dark, unbli

dded hard ag

ri

again, refused to give whoever sat behind that glass the satisfaction of knowing I had noti

ere damp and my pulse refused to slow. He hadn

ng, serving, smiling until my cheeks ached. But I couldn't shake the feeling

n it ha

nstantly, as if someone had drawn the air out o

here

n Mor

n in dark coats followed him, eyes sweeping the room like wolves scenting prey. The contrast was so stark it made the bar look s

his eyes

ored. Unf

myself to look away, to focus on the table in front of me, but my body betrayed me. My chest tightene

an said, his voice low eno

ations. Yo

he only shield I had. My hands trembled as I set the tr

d my lungs-smoke, spice, danger. It wasn't cologne. It was him. The air shift

u can shut me

with every ounce of defiance I could s

't crack, but the edges of control tightened. His jaw flexed. The man the city

Elena," he said sof

t none of them dared interrupt. I slammed the tray onto the counte

swer: leave me

in the air, bol

ession hardened, his gaze darkening until I swore I cou

smile that was soft, dan

ll s

d so tightly my nails bit crescents into my palms. The door swung shut behind me, cutting me off f

en I h

om the bar floor, one

not hiding something?

I stood. My blood turned

he was

guarding all these years, everything-my daughter, my frag