15/03/2026 16:42

---

I don't think anyone knew what to say. A little warm for a leather jacket, I said. They probably can survive pretty much everything but fire. Underwear, I said.

Belle knelt beside us, reaching out to touch Micah's face. There wasn't even static there, only complete silence. Can't just shoot. The ardeur was still inside me like a great warm weight, but I'd welcomed it this time, welcomed it chasing back Richard's beast, and I could think, though only about the man in front of me.