Diana’s POV
I didn’t sleep.
I couldn’t.
Not with that message tattooed behind my eyes every time I blinked.
HOW ARE YOU FEELING, DIANA?
The words didn’t just echo. They crawled across my mind like insects, over and over. Too calm. Too calculated.
Whoever sent it didn’t ask if I was okay, they already knew I wasn’t. It was a threat dressed as concern.
My brain tried to logic It's way out: It’s Kael. He’s just checking on you. Simple. Harmless.
But my gut screamed something else.
Kael didn’t do gentle.
He didn’t ask how you felt.
He acted.
He demanded.
He protected or he destroyed.
By 3 a.m., I was curled on the floor beside my bed, wrapped in a blanket that couldn’t keep out the chill eating at my bones. My breath fogged in the shadows. The silence had weight.
By 6 a.m., dawn
