Juliette’s POV
The city outside was drenched in a thin drizzle, the kind that blurred streetlights into soft halos, making the world feel simultaneously distant and intimate. I hated the quiet. Hated the way my thoughts multiplied when no one was around. Every corner of my apartment seemed to pulse with memory—Dorian’s shadow lingering in the hallway, Bryan’s gold-flecked gaze burning into me from the arena, and now, the unknown threat that had slipped into my phone like a ghost.
I forced myself to move, shoving anxiety into a corner of my mind as I prepared for the morning. Breakfast was mechanical—coffee too bitter, toast burned on one side—but I couldn’t stop thinking about the text from the night before. “Just making sure you’re safe. Be careful, honey. You’re in the middle of someth
