No Longer At Ease Novel Novels & Stories

Strangely easy. And somehow, I realized that ease was starting to unsettle me more than difficulty ever had. I still wasn’t entirely used to things that didn’t feel heavy. Nathaniel moved around the kitchen comfortably, sleeves rolled to his forearms, tie long abandoned somewhere in his bedroom. There was no courtroom sharpness here, no carefully constructed image, no razor sharp attorney. Just him. And perhaps that was what made him dangerous in a completely different way. Because he made peace feel… almost believable.

The mansion felt silent; on most days, it usually was, but for some reason, the silence today had an eerie feel. The rain had finally stopped, but in its wake, it left grey skies which looked like they would release more rain on the earth in no time. I made my way to the kitchen, intent on satisfying my cravings. Levi was working in his office, so I was pretty much left to my own company for some time. I held my romance novel in my hands as I opened the refrigerator. So far, the novel did an excellent job at keeping me entertained, especia;;y with its plot twists. The author did her big one with the book. Because for some reason. I could not be away from my tablet for more than five minutes.

Of course. Besides, after this, it would all be over. Her back pressed against the softness of her bed, her blanket pulled over her, one hand over her necklace, the other with the razor, while her thoughts travelled, her conciousness slipping away. Silence. Darkness. Sleep. For a while, nothing changed. It was peaceful. Very peaceful. ___ ((I feel nothing but unease from this.))

"Sweetheart, you just finished your shift. Sure you don't want to rest a few days before we go?" "No." I pushed myself up against the wall—legs shaking, but spine straight. "We leave now." He didn't ask again. He had my things packed and loaded in minutes. Helped me into the car. Goodbye, Howler. My new life starts now—and it has no room for Logan. No room for Derek.

Peace didn’t feel the way Elena expected it to. It wasn’t loud. It didn’t come with relief so overwhelming it made her cry. It didn’t wrap itself around her like some perfect, unbreakable shield. --- It was quieter than that. --- Subtle. Steady. --- But also… Unfamiliar. --- The kind of unfamiliar that made her pause sometimes— Just to make sure it was real. --- The next morning came without chaos. No messages. No unexpected knocks.

“I’m trying to memorize this.” “The book?” “No. You. This moment. The way it feels to not be looking over my shoulder.” He closed his book and set it aside, moving to the sofa to sit beside me. He pulled my legs over his lap, his hand resting on my ankle. “It gets easier, you know. The peace. At first, it feels like a lie. You wait for the explosion. But then, after a while, you realize the explosion isn't coming. You realize that this is just what life is supposed to be.”

She looked so at ease, so far from the constant chaos we had known, that it made my chest tighten with something unnameable. I smiled, but it didn’t quite reach my eyes. I was still adjusting to this new version of us—this life we were trying to carve out of the fragments left behind by everything we had endured. There had been so much loss, so many moments that seemed to stretch on endlessly, but now… now, for the first time in a long while, I could feel something different. A sense of calm, of stillness. It was tempting to hold on to this feeling, to imagine that maybe, just maybe, this was all we needed. A quiet life, away from war, away from the mess we had spent so long fighting through

I couldn't understand why he hadn't simply taken me home, I remembered how comfortable I used to be with him and there had been a time when being alone with Adrian felt effortless. I could say anything that came to mind without stopping to consider how it sounded. I could tell him exactly what I wanted and I never worried about him making me feel foolish for it. I could even tell him how much I wanted him and back then, there had been no hesitation but all of that was gone now. Whatever ease we'd once shared had been replaced by something heavier and I turned toward him. “It’s been a long day,” I said quietly. “How about we just call it a night?”

By the next afternoon, the quiet tension is practically humming in my ears. Lounging on the far end of the couch, I have my legs stretched out and resting over the armrest. I’m wearing comfortable grey sweatpants that leave absolutely zero doubt about the current, frustrated state of my anatomy. A paperback sci-fi novel rests open on my chest. It’s a space opera about rogue smugglers, supposedly heavy on the action. Turns out, it’s even heavier on the smut. Scanning a particularly graphic paragraph on page two-hundred-and-four, a wicked idea forms in my mind.

I sat back down and flipped through the pages slowly, losing track of time. For once, there was no tension. No expectations. Just quiet. And I let myself stay there, not thinking about Domenico, his family, or the godforsaken mansion.