-Aurelian Salvatore:
I let out a chuckle at his jab, the sound softer than I intended.
The relief was still settling inside me, warm and steady, replacing the cold panic that had nearly swallowed me whole moments ago. He was normal. He was teasing me. He was looking at me the way he always did—annoyed, amused, slightly competitive.
Not enchanted. Not obsessed.
I hadn't realized how tightly I had been bracing myself until that tension finally began to loosen. For the first time since he stepped into my room, I could actually focus on something other than fear.
And then it hit me.
He was in my room.
In more than two weeks of living under the same roof, Elias had never set foot in here. Not once. We crossed paths in corridors, argued in shared spaces—but my room had remained untouched territory.
I tilted my head slightly, studying him again.
