AIDEN POV
Keres and I woke with the first light.
Like we’ve done all our life. We’d been built like this.
Just one ray of sunlight and our eyes would snap open. Too many things to do in a day to waste any minute.
The house was quiet at first.
Then I heard Mom downstairs, opening cabinets with more force than necessary because her coffee routine had been capable of emotional commentary since I could remember. Somewhere near my feet, Keres was sprawled half off the mattress like exile had taken a personal toll on him. Perse slept in the middle, curled on her side and facing me even if one of her hands was still tucked in Thane’s.
And Thane—
I stopped.
My brother was sleeping with his face buried in her hair.
Literally.
Buried.
Like he had found the only oxygen he trusted and dec
