The golden fingers of the morning sun began to pry open the heavy mists surrounding Hollow Creek, casting long, amber shadows across the courtyard of the Valerian estate. Despite the monumental success of the previous night—a night that had seen the downfall of a high-ranking justice and the eradication of a demonic entity—Liam Valerian did not allow himself the luxury of sleep. He rose with the precision of a soldier, his mind already calculating the variables of the new day.
Pushing open the heavy lattice windows of his bedchamber, Liam took a deep breath of the crisp, mountain air. Below him, in the inner courtyard, Claire was bent over the coop, carefully gathering eggs into a wicker basket. It was a domestic, almost pastoral scene that felt jarringly out of place in the home of a fam
