Kira’s POV
My body sinks into the mattress, every inch aching, trembling with the cold that comes from inside—not from the air. I keep my eyes half-open, letting the pale morning light filter in through the cracks in the curtains. Dust dances in the air. It’s quiet. The kind of quiet that makes your heart drum a little faster, even when it shouldn't.
My breaths are shallow. Each inhale scratches my lungs like tiny claws. The yellow wolfsbane still lingers in my system, like poison laced with memories. It crawls through me, weakening every cell, every thought. I feel it in my fingers. In the way I can’t curl them fully. In the way, even blinking feels like work.
The door opens softly. I don’t have to look. I know that scent. Wild roses and burning sage.
“You really are committed to this,” Nora says, her voice gentle but strong, like velvet over steel.
I turn my head slowly, my lips dry. “I am,” I whisper. “Haven’t I proven that to you yet?”
She crosses the room in three silent steps. “
