[WARNING! Unedited! Don't buy!]
Night deepened around the monastery, pressing against the cracked stone like a living thing. Wind whispered through broken windows, carrying the scent of pine and damp earth. The ruins no longer felt abandoned. They felt watchful.
Caroline slept first.
Her exhaustion dragged her under quickly, breath evening out as she curled against her cloak on the cold floor. I stayed awake beside her, back against the wall, daggerless but not defenseless. The pact with Sol still hummed beneath my skin like a second pulse.
I hated it.
I hated needing him.
And yet—without him, we would already be dead.
Footsteps echoed softly.
I tensed, hand instinctively reaching for a weapon that wasn't there.
Sol emerged from the shadows near the doorway. "You should sleep."
"Someone has to watch," I replied.
"That someone does not have to be you."
I scoffed. "And trust you to guard us?"
He studied me in silence. "You would not be alive if I wished you harm."
