Azriel's Point Of View
I slipped through the heavy double doors of her room, closing them behind me with barely a click. The hallway light vanished as the latch caught, leaving only the dim glow filtering through the curtains to guide my steps.
The suite was bathed in soft, amber shadows, the kind of quiet that pressed gently against the ears after a night like the one I'd had. She was sleeping soundly, curled up on her side in the center of that massive king-sized bed. She looked impossibly small tucked into the dark silk sheets, her breath coming in slow, even rhythms.
For a moment, I just stood there in the doorway, letting the sight of her settle something restless in my chest. Whatever violence I'd left behind at the harbor, whatever cold calculations still churned in the command room, none of it could survive in a space like this.
