|Gryphon's POV|
She's draped against me like she's trying to disappear into my bones, her breath warm and uneven where it ghosts across my chest, her fingers twitching now and then like the ghosts she carries won't leave her alone—not even in sleep.
And for a fleeting second, I almost let myself believe it's over, that she's safe, that the chaos we walked through today has finally retreated. But then I see it—a thin s***h of crimson just beneath the glint of her bracelet, like a whispered truth she didn't want me to find, and the illusion shatters all at once, leaving nothing behind but ice in my veins.
Time slows.
My hand moves on instinct, with a care I didn't know I had in me, brushing the delicate metal up her wrist to uncover the truth beneath it. And there it is—red, raw, and hea
