Thoren
I rapped my knuckles against Kael’s door, expecting it to swing open with his usual alertness and that half-c****d grin he reserved for mornings he thought he was too clever.
It didn’t.
I waited a beat. Then another. Just as I raised my hand to knock again, the door cracked open—and Kael appeared, flushed and rumpled, shirtless with a pair of sweats hastily slung around his hips. His hair was a tousled mess like someone had been gripping it, and his chest still glistened faintly with sweat.
I arched a brow. “Sleeping late today?”
He opened his mouth, then closed it. “I—uh—just… lost track of time.”
“Hmm.” I wasn’t expecting a real answer, and I didn’t need one.
“I need you to head down to the—”
A noise cut me off. Movement inside his quarters. Something—someone—shifting in t
