POV: Daniel 

The night never ended. It just changed form. 

The rain had stopped, but the air still smelled wet, alive, electric. The forest around us stood still. Every leaf glowed a faint gold in the twilight, waiting for something, any thing.

Clara was asleep again—barely. Her pulse pounded slow and weak through the bond, delicate as glass. I could feel it under my skin, every heartbeat drumming against my own.

She had been right. 

The more I resisted, ...