Eliana POV
I used to love the sound of the night.
The silence of the trees, the tender swinging of the wind through the old branches, the rhythm of my own breathing to put me to sleep. The dark, somehow, offered me a weird sort of comfort even after everything after the blood and the betrayal.
But tonight…
The quiet felt wrong.
It pressed too tightly around the walls.
Held its breath too long.
Waited.
I moved in the bed, my skin cooled down even though it was already in the warm room. By this time the fire was smoldering to loving embers, which eyed the hearth like dim stars. I had attempted to sleep I wanted to, but something would not permit it.
Something inside my chest kept tugging. Whispering.
Look.
I turned my head toward the window.
At first, there was nothing.
Just th
