AURELIA
The room was quiet when I woke up. Cold air crept across the sheets beside me and noticed he was gone. Again.
I sat up, wrapping the blanket around my chest, and looked around the room. It was still, dark, and too big. His scent was still here though — spicy, smoky. Familiar, but not comforting.
I shouldn't have cared. But I did.
I stood and walked to the window. The outside world looked gray and distant. My reflection stared back at me, tired and a little lost.
Two years ago, under a stormy sky, Luca had pulled me into the gazebo behind my aunt's house. He didn't kneel. He didn't ask twice. Just held out a ring and said, "Marry me." I laughed and said yes because I loved him. I thought he loved me too. But three months later, he was gone. Vanished. No calls. No warning. Just a note. When I finally heard his voice again, all he said was, "It's better this way."
I shook my head, trying to push the memory back where it belonged.
Kaelith wasn't Luca. He was darker. Colder. But somehow the silence he left behind felt just as painful.
A knock on the door made me flinch. A servant stepped in with a tray of food I didn't want.
"Thank you," I said softly. She nodded and left without a word.
I sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the untouched breakfast. My stomach turned. Nothing felt normal anymore.
Why was I here? What did he even want from me?
I pulled the blanket tighter around me, my gaze drifting to the empty space where he had been.
I didn't know what this was turning into. But I was already too deep to walk away.