[AlariC]

The house should have been quiet, a sanctuary after the chaos of the day’s work, but the silence felt brittle, like thin glass.

I sat at the large kitchen counter, my hand wrapped tightly around the condensation of a cold beer.

I hadn't even finished the first swig, yet I already needed the relief. Every shadow in the house felt haunted by the human I had locked away and the reports I’d received detailing Lyra's immediate hostility toward her.

The moment I had allowed ...