Chapter106:

Chapter 106 CELESTE  The alarm went off at 6:00 AM, and I was already awake. I'd slept fitfully, plagued by dreams of shadowy clubs and cold-eyed strangers, waking every few hours to check that Xenois was still beside me, still breathing, still real. He was deeply asleep, his face peaceful in a way it hadn't been when he'd first come home last night. I watched him for a moment, studying the familiar features—the strong jaw, the dark lashes, the slight furrow between his brows that never quite went away even in sleep. This was my husband. Not the monster who'd walked through the Obsidian Club last night, but this man right here—vulnerable and human and trying so hard to be better than who he'd been. I slipped out of bed carefully, not wanting to wake him. He needed the rest after everything he'd been through. In the bathroom, I studied my own reflection—I looked tired, dark circles under my eyes, tension visible in the set of my shoulders. But I had a role to play today. Mother, wife, p