The packhouse felt too big. Too loud. Too many eyes trailing after me as if I was some symbol they could cling to. They thought my return meant stability. Safety. Maybe even victory. But when the fires dimmed and the music bled into silence, I couldn’t sleep. Thorne had been given a guest room down the hall. A courtesy. Or maybe a trap. I wasn’t sure which. He had disappeared into it without a word, and I had been left in my old room, staring at walls that now felt foreign to me. It was hard, but the realization that this just wasn’t my home anymore made me feel out of sorts. I lasted an hour before I couldn’t take it anymore. My bare feet padded softly over the wooden floors, every step quick and nervous. I felt like a child sneaking out, but the heat in my chest wasn’t childlike at all.
