~ISSA.

The car hummed beneath us as I drove Yulia back from Canis Academy, the dim headlights cutting through the early dusk settling over the city.

Silence filled the space between us, charged with an energy I couldn’t quite shake, an odd blend of tension and something warmer that made my pulse quicken. I tightened my grip on the steering wheel, trying to keep my focus on the road, but my thoughts kept returning to the way I’d acted earlier in the library, the way I’d laid claim to her, ...