MELISSA’S POV

I was still lying on the floor of my sitting room, very tired, my head pounding as though every nerve was being struck with a hammer. I had been lying there since I banged the door on Xavier, my body refusing to move, my mind replaying everything in endless cycles that only made the ache sharper.

At some point, the ache and exhaustion swallowed me whole, and I barely noticed the world around me as sleep tugged me under.

When I grudgingly opened my eyes again, the first ...