LOGINDamon’s POVFor the first time in weeks, I wasn't working. No patrol reports, no council meetings, no elders trying to force decisions onto my desk. Just Aria.I had made that decision the night before and refused to let anything interfere with it, though unfortunately Aria was currently trying to.
For a moment, he just stared at me then, slowly, his expression softened again, like he was slipping back into a version of himself that knew how to win me over.“You’re really choosing him,” he said quietly. “After everything I did for you?”I let out a short, humorless laugh. “You didn’t do anythi
Aria’s POVThe infirmary was too quiet, not peaceful—never peaceful—but had this kind of silence that felt forced, like the walls themselves were holding their breath. The smell of antiseptic was sharp enough to sting my nose the moment I stepped inside, and for a second I almost turned back.Almost
For a moment, he just stared at me then, slowly, his expression softened again, like he was slipping back into a version of himself that knew how to win me over.“You’re really choosing him,” he said quietly. “After everything I did for you?”I let out a short, humorless laugh. “You didn’t do anythi
Aria’s POVThe infirmary was too quiet, not peaceful—never peaceful—but had this kind of silence that felt forced, like the walls themselves were holding their breath. The smell of antiseptic was sharp enough to sting my nose the moment I stepped inside, and for a second I almost turned back.Almost
Aria's POVThe feeling wouldn't leave, it followed me through lunch, through the reports stacked on my desk, through every conversation I barely paid attention to and no matter how many times I reminded myself that Damon could handle himself, that he had survived far worse than a day spent with Kade
Aria’s POVI woke up slowly, like my body had forgotten how to exist and was testing the idea one piece at a time.The first thing I noticed was the absence of pain, there was no burning in my throat, no iron-heavy weight in my lungs and no violent shaking that had ripped through me before everythin
Maeve swore under her breath and immediately started flipping through a set of notes, her hands moving faster.I didn’t move.My voice came out quieter this time. “What do you want?”Lex studied me for a long moment, and something in his expression shifted not to sympathy or hesitation, but calculat
Damon’s POVThe moment Maeve said the mixture failed, I knew something was wrong in a way that went beyond medicine.Aria lay on the infirmary table, her breathing shallow and uneven, her skin pale enough that the candlelight made her look almost translucent. Black veins still traced faint paths ben
“Lex!” I snarled, shifting back into human form mid-run. “Stop running like prey!”His voice came back, distant and sharp. “Then stop chasing like a dog with a leash on!”I caught up to him near a ridge where the ground dropped steeply into a narrow ravine. The rogues had stopped following. They alw







