Elena's POV
"In here."
Damian guided me into the small conference room off the main floor, glass walls fogged with a privacy setting he activated with a switch by the door, and for a moment neither of us spoke, the sudden quiet stretching taut between us. He studied me with an intensity I hadn't felt from him in days, something searching and careful in his expression that made my pulse climb despite the familiarity of standing this close to him.
"You said it happened again," I said finally, when the silence grew too heavy to hold. "Last night. The same dream."
"Yes." He crossed the small room slowly, stopping close enough that I could feel the warmth radiating off him, though he didn't reach for me the way he usually would have. "I need to ask you something, and I need you to let me, e
