~ Cassian

I stirred awake with a groggy breath, feeling the morning light brush faintly against my eyelids.

I groaned at it, because I had forgotten to completely shut the lights out with the curtain last night. My body ached slightly from sleeping in a weird angle, and my neck felt rickety like a rusted machine part—but it was nothing unusual.

I could fix it by changing my position.

I turned, ready to dig my face into the pillow and steal a few more minutes of quiet, but instead came face to ...