The silence stretched between us like a thread—unbroken, but taut with everything left unspoken.
Outside, the wind shifted, and the trees murmured secrets too old for language.
But in here, in the small pocket of stillness where Killian sat beside me, it felt like the world had paused just long enough for me to breathe.
“I don’t think I’ll sleep tonight,” I murmured.
Killian tilted his head slightly, studying me with eyes like liquid silver. “Then don’t.”
I glanced sideways. “That simple, huh?”
A faint smile touched his lips. “Sleep won’t give you peace until you stop running from what’s already inside you.”
I hugged my knees tighter to my chest. “But how do I stop running when I don’t even know what’s chasing me?”
Killian didn’t answer right away.
When he did, his voice was qui
