Mara
I woke up to cold sheets and empty space beside me. For a second, I reached out, half-asleep, expecting to find Lucian there. But he was gone.
The silence pulled me fully awake.
I sat up, scanning the room. Then I saw him—sitting in the living room, elbows on his knees, head bowed like the weight of something heavy had settled on him overnight.
Quietly, I slipped out of bed and padded toward him, hoping to catch him lost in thought. But before I got close, he looked up and smiled.
"Mara," he said softly.
That one word, my name in his voice, made me smile back. “Good morning,” I murmured, then veered toward the bathroom.
I'd planned to pull him in with me, but first—teeth.
Morning breath was a hard no, even if he didn’t seem to care. I did.
I stared at myself in the mirror
