“Ryder… why are you here?”
Her voice slid through the darkness before he even stepped out of it, sharp as a blade and trembling under the weight of something she didn’t dare name. The moonlight cut across her face as she turned, catching the silver in her eyes, the faint glow beneath her skin that hadn’t been there weeks ago. She looked like someone the world should fear, yet all Ryder saw was the woman he kept breaking for.
“I couldn’t stay away.” His words were low, rough, dragging through his throat like each one hurt to speak. “Not tonight.”
Sienna exhaled shakily, and the breath misted between them in the cold air of the garden. “You shouldn’t have come,” she whispered. “Every step you take toward me pulls that curse tighter.”
He stepped closer anyway. His boots crushed the roses
