The Rejected Luna's Bloodline
It was a small thing, but it told her something she had not fully understood until that moment, that Lucian's calm was armor rather than emptiness, worn deliberately over whatever fear lived underneath it.
That night, unable to sleep, Sera found herself back on the porch with the folder Lucian had given her, rereading names she had already read twice. Matteo joined her eventually, settling into the other chair without being asked, his rifle resting across his knees.
"You are not sleeping," he observed.
"Neither are you."
"I sleep in shifts. Habit." He studied her a moment. "You are angry."
"I am tired of being something other people want to use," Sera said. "Rejected for it. Hunted for it. B