Ravenna's POV
For the first time in what felt like forever, the air didn't smell like blood, smoke, or gunpowder. Just antiseptic, coffee, and baby powder.
Lucien was sitting up against the bed's headboard, looking far less like a dying man and more like the stubborn, impossible one I had always known. His hair was messy, falling over his forehead. The little girl sat in his lap, playing with a loose strand, giggling each time he tried to pull it back and ruffling it even further.
I stood by the window, my arms folded, watching them both with a smile playing on my lips.
Every time she laughed, it did something strange to my chest—like it filled cracks I hadn't realized were still open. Her mischievous act made Lucien lightly tickle the side of her tummy, making her squirm in
