CHAPTER FIFTY NINE : NALA POVI woke up not knowing where I was.That was the new normal apparently. Eyes open, body frozen, brain running a full threat assessment before it allowed itself to register that the ceiling was different from the room's ceiling, that the smell was different, that the bed beneath me was soft in a way that concrete floors and cots were not soft.Safe house. Ivin's.Right.I breathed.The breathing thing had become a whole process now cause it had to be deliberate and counted, the only breathing you did when your body had forgotten it was allowed to just breathe without checking first.Ivin was in the chair.Of course he was.Same chair energy as the hospital except this time he was awake, forearms on his knees, eyes on my face, and when he saw me register him he didn't move or speak or make it a thing. Just stayed exactly where he was and let me take my time coming back to the room.I appreciated that more than I had words for."Isla?" I said. First word out
Last Updated : 2026-09-15 Read more