Daphne POV

“Fear used to paralyze me but now it fuels me.”

I used to think courage was the absence of fear.

But that’s a lie. Courage is fear with its sleeves rolled up, ready to fight back.

And I was done being scared.

The morning light bled weakly through the curtains, soft and gold, but my chest felt heavy like the air itself knew what was coming.

Christian sat at the table, swinging his legs, spooning cereal with sleepy carelessness.

He hummed a cartoon song under his breath, unaware ...