Aria's POV
Four days now.
The number sat behind every thought, every glance, every touch — a countdown neither of us said out loud anymore because saying it made the fear too solid to ignore.
I found Damien on the balcony outside his study, moonlight silvering the line of his shoulders, his gray eyes fixed on the horizon like he could hold the Blood Moon back through sheer will alone.
"You're not sleeping," I said.
"Neither are you."
I crossed the distance between us, close enough to feel the warmth radiating off him despite the night air. His arm came around my waist automatically now, like it had always belonged there.
"I keep thinking about how little time we've actually had," he admitted, voice low. "Weeks. That's all. Weeks, after seventeen years of pretending I didn't want thi
