Aria.
I couldn't sleep.
I had tried. I had lain on the small cot with Diana pressed against my side and Damon's back against my arm, exactly the way we always slept.
I had stared at the ceiling for what felt like hours until the walls started feeling like they were closing in and I needed air.
I slipped out quietly after whispering to Freya's sleeping self that I would be back soon.
The palace grounds were empty at this hour. The gathering had wound down and the fires had burned low and there was nobody left outside except the rotating guards who I avoided out of habit more than anything else.
I walked along the outer path with my arms folded against the cold and let the night air do what it could for the thing sitting in my chest.
I was thinking about his face.
The way his eyes h
