Malrik POV

The water poured over us in steady streams, steam curling around our bodies as I held Dravina against me. Her back rested against my chest, her head tucked beneath my chin, as though she belonged there. My palms spread across her stomach, grounding me in the proof that she was alive, warm, mine.

Peace. That’s what it felt like. Fragile. Precious. Hard-won.

I pressed a kiss to her temple and, in silence, thanked everything the gods, the moon, the universe itself for sparing her ...