Darius was a short man with electrical currents for eyes and one of the most infectious laughs Ronan had ever heard. It tinkled around the small establishment like liquid glitter, brightening up every dark corner and every hidden crevice.

And maybe there was something special about him because for the first time in days, a smile turned Ronan's lips. A genuine, hand-to-god smile. It awoke something inside him, a dormant ghost of the person who laughed and grinned like it was second nature, and for a second there, he almost found the energy to follow through with the childish joke that had sprung to mind after Darius' last statement.

He...