The following afternoon, the heavy rain had finally cleared, leaving the estate’s private botanical gardens shrouded in a thick, atmospheric mist that clung to the ancient oak trees and stone pathways. Seraphina sat on a carved marble bench near the edge of the rose garden, her hands wrapped around a porcelain mug of tea that had long since gone cold.
She was trying to clear her head of the training session, trying to forget the terrifying way her heart had hammered when she was pinned against Valerius’s chest.
"I heard you're training with him," a quiet, familiar voice broke through the silence.
Seraphina didn't flinch. She had felt the approach, though it lacked the heavy, ozone-thick pressure that always signaled Valerius’s arrival. She looked up to see Silas walking down the grav
