Chapter 27 The Wound That Still Bleeds

• He didn’t expect her to speak to him that morning.
• Not after waking with her curled beside him, not after the soft warmth of her body had settled into him like a memory he already missed. Mikko had stayed still as long as he could, savoring the feel of her, the echo of her breath against his chest. But when she shifted and pulled away, everything inside him seized.
• Espen moved like she hadn’t slept at all—tense, stiff, armor already back on. Her back to him, her fingers methodically tying her damp hair, and the silence between them sharp enough to bleed.