|Serena’s POV|
The Asphodel suite is too quiet—too perfect. The kind of place made for sins dressed in silk and secrets wrapped in candlelight. The city glitters far beneath us, a kingdom of lights and loneliness, but in here, in this sanctuary above the world, the chaos I carry starts to lose its edge.
I stand at the window, my reflection barely visible in the glass. There's a wildness in my eyes that wasn't there before, a tremble just beneath my skin—not from fear, but from the sheer weight of what I feel for him.
Gryphon is behind me. I hear the soft whisper of his jacket falling to the floor. The unhurried sound of his boots being kicked off. He doesn't speak. He doesn't need to. The tension between us is a living thing, growing heavier by the second, until I finally turn to face
