LUCIAN’S POV
For the first time in longer than I could remember, I woke to peace.
For a few precious seconds, I simply existed beneath the warmth of late morning sunlight and soft sheets, suspended in a strange, unfamiliar stillness that settled deep in my chest and silenced every ugly, anguished thought.
Then, through the haze of sleep, memory returned in a rush powerful enough to leave me reeling.
Moonlight spilling across polished floors, Evelyn's fingers curling into my shirt, her voice promising she was here, the taste of her kiss, the bond surging to life between us with enough force to awaken parts of me I had thought were buried too deeply to ever feel anything again.
Without opening my eyes, I reached automatically toward the warmth that should have been beside me, seeking her out with the same unconscious certainty that had drawn me toward her all night.
My hand met cold sheets.
My eyes snapped open.
