The quiet of the night settled over the house, its silence broken only by the faint rustling of leaves outside. Blaze moved through the shadows, his steps light and careful as he climbed the trellis outside Seraphina’s window. He couldn’t explain what drove him here at such an hour, only that he needed to see her. Just once, away from everyone else, where it was only the two of them, without walls or expectations between them.
When he reached her window, he hesitated, the soft glow of a nightlight illuminating her room, casting gentle shadows across her sleeping figure. Taking a breath, he tapped quietly on the glass. Seraphina stirred, blinking as she sat up, her eyes searching the room groggily before landing on him. She gasped, frozen in shock.
“Blaze?” she whispered, half-dazed. Her
