Chapter 130

• Aurora POV
• I watch Emmi sleep, her small chest rising and falling under the blanket, her face peaceful in the soft glow of her nightlight. The past four months replay in my mind, a strange tapestry of moments that don’t quite fit together. Things are... weird. Not bad, not anymore, but weird in a way that keeps me on edge, waiting for the other shoe to drop. The threats from the elders are gone, their silence bought by Killian’s contract, but the quiet feels too fragile, too temporary. I’m used to chaos, to running, to pain. This calm, it’s unnatural.
• Killian and Lucas keep telling me to stop waiting for the bad, to trust that we’re safe, but it’s not easy. I’ve spent years looking over my shoulder, and old habits die hard. This is the first week I’ve been left alone in the house, a test of how far the peace extends. Lucas is on a work trip, gone for three days and not back until tomorrow. When Killian had to go into the office, it was just me and Emmi, the two of us rattling around in this big house, and I hated every second of the emptiness.