Before sleep had claimed him properly—before Melissa's arms had wrapped around him like a warm, perfumed straightjacket—Phei had done one last thing before falling asleep.
The fifteen Charm points.
He'd released them all. Every single one, dumped into his system like a kid shoving quarters into an arcade machine, not even bothering to check what they did because consciousness was a flickering candle and he was about three seconds from face-planting into oblivion.
Now, hours later, standing in the master bathroom at 2 AM with city lights painting everything in shades of blue and gold, Phei stared at his reflection and nearly didn't recognise himself.
"Who the fuck is that?"
The face staring back at him wasn't just better. It was handsome. Properly, unfairly handsome.
