Elle POV
I have never liked being alone.
Not the quiet that comes after choice. Not the kind where solitude feels like rest. I mean the kind of alone that presses in on you from all sides, that sharpens every sound and turns your own thoughts into enemies. The kind where you know—deep in your bones—that if something goes wrong, there will be no one coming.
For most of my life, that kind of alone was all I knew.
But this… this is different.
The underground fortress doesn’t feel empty.
It feels occupied—even without Blake standing beside me. The stone walls hum softly with layered wards, ancient magic flowing through them like a slow, steady pulse. The air is warm, alive, as though the fortress itself is breathing.
And everywhere—absolutely everywhere—is Blake.
His scent lingers thic
