The estate felt different that night quieter, watched, every hallway lined with staff who kept glancing at the windows like the black SUV might come crashing through them next.
Killian hadn't left my side since the hospital cleared me. He sat on the edge of the bed while a private doctor finished checking the stitches above my eyebrow, arms crossed, jaw locked in the same tight line it had held since Fifth and Aldergate.
"You can stop hovering," I said, once the doctor packed up and left us alone. "I'm fine. Bruised, not broken."
"You were run off the road, Avalene." His voice was low, controlled in the way that meant it was costing him something to keep it that way. "Forgive me if I need a minute before I believe you're fine."
I softened. "Okay. A minute."
He didn't move for several.
