POV: Daniel

The sun shouldn’t have risen.

Not after last night. Not with blood still drying on the carpet and her whisper still burning my chest. But it did—slow and stubborn, bleeding pale light over brick and stone, softening the edges of the street and turning it from shadow into gray.

Daylight didn’t soften me. Couldn’t. The bond burned too hot for anything to cool.

I hadn’t left. Couldn’t.

All night I’d paced outside the library, smoke curling ...