Chapter 261

• Leah's POV
• The next morning, I woke to a bed that felt too big, too empty. The sheets beside me were cold, the imprint of Darren's body gone like he'd never been there at all. My chest tightened, a jagged panic slicing through me. The moon's bloody glare from last night still lingered in my mind, and now this—him missing again. I bolted upright, heart slamming against my ribs, sweat beading on my scarred skin. Those marks from the slave market itched, a reminder of chains I'd never fully shed. He couldn't be gone. Not after everything.
• I stumbled out of bed, bare feet hitting the floorboards with a slap that echoed in the too-quiet house. My breath came fast, shallow, as I tore down the stairs, the ache in my bones screaming from the night before. A clatter drifted up from below—metal on metal, faint but real. My pulse stuttered. Maybe he hadn't left me. Maybe he was still mine.