Elena
*****Late Night — Temporary Stronghold in the Valley*****
The fire outside the tent burned low.
Not dying.
Just quiet.
The kind of quiet that waited.
Chase’s shoulder was warm beneath my cheek. I hadn’t realized how tightly I was leaning into him until Finn shifted on the other side of the tent and I felt the weight of the world press back onto my ribs. My breath was steady now, but my heart still hadn’t caught up. It was still racing like it was afraid that if it slowed, something would take him away again.
I didn’t move.
I was scared that if I did, this moment would break.
Fia sat near the tent wall, knees tucked to her chest, eyes half-lidded. She was watching me in a way that made my skin prickle….. not like a child, but like someone who could see the cracks inside me.
