Nicholas’s POV
Morning sunlight cut through the drapes in thin golden stripes. Dust motes hung suspended, drifting lazily in the hush.
Esther was still asleep beside me.
I hadn’t meant to stay the whole night. I’d meant to leave as soon as she stopped trembling. But every time I stood, Norman would snarl low in my mind, and the bond would tug at me like a leash. Not yet. She’s not safe yet.
So I’d sat. When she stirred, whispering something in her sleep, I’d brushed a tear from her cheek without meaning to. The salt of it still clung to my thumb.
Now the sun had risen, and the world felt painfully bright. The first full light always exposes everything you wish had stayed hidden.
Her hair spilled across the pillow in wild curls, the sheet tangled around one bare shoulder. I’d seen her
