Malric’s Pov
I woke with a start, heart pounding in my chest, breath shallow as though I had been running for miles. My chamber felt suffocating. The light streaming in from the window mocked me, too bright, too steady, as if the world dared to continue when mine had been torn apart.
Delilah was still gone.
The realization hit like a blade twisting in my gut. No messenger had come to me, no warrior bearing news. The silence was an answer of its own, she had not been found.
I pushed myself up from the bed, a sharp ache coursing through me. My memories blurred: pacing the floor, restless with thoughts of her, then eating the meal Seraphine had brought.
After that? Nothing. A hollow void. Sleep must have claimed me, but how? I had no recollection of lying down, no recollection of surre
