CLAUDE
“YOU CAN LEAVE.”
The words didn’t make sense.
I blinked at Nikolai from where I sat on the bed, my head still hazy, heavy, like I’d been drowning in a dream for too long. My body felt sluggish, my limbs heavy by sleep that shouldn’t have lasted this long. Even when I looked out the window, the sky was dark. A full day—I’d slept for a full day.
But that wasn’t what made my chest go tight.
It wasn’t the exhaustion, the disorientation.
It was him.
Standing there, hands shoved into his pockets, looking around his own bedroom like he was seeing it for the first time. Like he didn’t recognize it. Like he didn’t recognize me.
“Nikolai…” My voice was hoarse, my throat tight. “Why?”
I shouldn’t have asked. I should have just taken my chance, grabbed my things, and gone
