CLARABEL’S POV

It was well past midnight, and my eyes were burning from hours of reading through ledgers, but I refused to go up to my quarters.

I was deliberately avoiding him.

Every time I closed my eyes, I heard Malakai’s immediate "No" echoed through his private chamber, the way he had dismissed the scout, calling off the search for Talia without a second thought. 

A bitter knot tightened in my throat. I felt like an absolute fool. For a brief, terrifying moment while he lay bleeding in that bed, I had let my guard down. I had allowed myself to see a man instead of a monster, to feel...