The Sterling mansion felt different the next morning.

Quieter. Tighter. Like the walls were holding their breath.

Alina woke with the faint ache of exhaustion in her bones, the kind that came from more than lack of sleep. It came from the weight of truths she had never imagined. Sparrow’s death. Helena’s abandonment. The enemies hiding in the shadows.

Ares wasn’t beside her in the bed.

For a moment her heart lurched, her mind racing to worst-case scenarios. But then she saw ...