Caelan POV:
The water hits me hard enough to bruise.
I set the temperature deliberately too hot, letting the spray strike my shoulders and spine in a relentless cascade that drags sensation to the forefront of my awareness. Steam coils quickly, fogging the glass, blurring the sharp lines of the room until the world narrows to heat, pressure, breath.
It should be enough, it never is.
Elara lingers anyway, not as a thought I can dismiss, but as something my body has already accepted as truth. Her scent, faint but unmistakable, threads through my awareness with a familiarity that unsettles me far more than hunger ever could.
“ She walked beside you” Vaelor voice is quiet, certain.
I exhale through my nose, bracing both hands against the cool tile as the water pours over me, jaw tighteni
