(Warning ️: Explicit content ahead.)

—Mabel—

I slowed before the double doors and pushed them open.

The cool night air brushed against my skin as I stepped onto a lonely balcony. The scent of jasmine and white roses filled my nostrils, just before I sighted a garden below opposite a small pond.

Two swans floated silently across the pond, their white feathers glowing like porcelain under the moonlight. One—clearly the male, flared his wings, puffed out his chest, and dipped his head low ...