Daniel’s mouth quirked. “Unfortunately.”
I took his hand, tugged him gently toward a flat rock overlooking the ridge.
“I want ten minutes,” I said. “Ten minutes where we talk about something normal.”
Daniel lifted a brow. “Such as?”
“Such as your favorite color,” I said. “Or whether you have any weird hobbies. Or the worst meal you’ve ever cooked.”
His laugh was surprised and genuine. “My favorite color is green. I used to carve wooden figures before I got too busy. And the worst meal I ever cooked was a lasagna that somehow came out both burned and frozen in the middle.”
I stared at him. “How is that even possible?”
“I genuinely don’t know,” he said solemnly. “The physics of it still baffles me.”
I leaned into his side as we sat, his arm coming around me like it belonged there.
“My favorite color is blue,” I admitted. “Deep blue. Like the sky right before full dark.” I hesitated, then added, softer, “And I collect old maps. Not valuable ones. Just… interesting ones. Places that don’t exist anymore. Or never existed at all.”
Daniel turned his head to look at me. “That’s not weird.”
“It’s extremely weird. Anna used to make fun of me constantly.”
The mention of her name didn’t cut the way it used to. It still ached, but softer now. Survivable.
Daniel’s thumb traced slow patterns on my shoulder. “She sounds like she was good for you.”
“She was,” I said quietly. “She really was.”
We sat there watching the valley wake up below, the forest breathing around us, and for a few minutes everything was simple.
No threats.
No politics.
No magic demanding answers.
Just a man beside me who made the loneliness feel less permanent.
“We should go,” Daniel said eventually.
“Probably.”
Neither of us moved.
“Five more minutes,” I said.
“Five more minutes,” he agreed.
And the Evernight, ancient and patient, let us have them.
19
WHEN SHADOWS LEARN YOUR NAME
DANIEL
Istood at the northern perimeter where the ward-line met the tree line, watching Sienna and Theo complete their patrol rotation. They moved through the shadows with practiced efficiency, but I could see the tension in their shoulders, the way their eyes tracked movement that wasn't there. They felt it too. The forest's attention, sharp and hungry and way too focused for comfort.
