SERAPHINA'S POV
After a fitful night of, thankfully, dreamless sleep, I woke up before sunrise to a text from Lucian.
Lucian: Take today off from OTS training. Doctor’s orders.
I stared at the message for a long moment before replying.
Sera: You’re not my doctor.
He responded instantly.
Lucian: Maybe not. But I am someone who prefers his dates alive, unbruised, and stress-free. Humor me.
I rolled my eyes, but the truth was, I wasn’t in a hurry to step back into the relentless grind of training drills and simulated crises.
My body was healed—thanks to Ashar’s strange magic that I didn’t even want to think about right now, because thinking about Ashar led me to thinking about Kieran—but the emotional bruises were still tender.
So, I humored him.
And I took it
