Page 138 of Dark Night of the Soul

Then his hand squeezed mine.

“I know,” he said.

Not the words I’d said. But close enough.

And in the darkness, I smiled.

Chapter 39 | Kincade

I awoke before dawn.

She slept peacefully. Safe, I thought, for the first time in weeks. One arm rested across my abdomen, placed there in the middle of the night to make sure I was still here.

I wasn’t going anywhere.

I lay motionless, breathing shallow and slow, unwilling to disturb her.

She’d said it in the dark. Soft. Unguarded.

I hadn’t answered.

Not because I didn’t feel it. But because once spoken, it became a promise I could never afford to break. If I gave those words back to her in the dark, I gave her my enemies, my war, my violence. It would bind her to my danger.

And after everything, she deserved peace. Security. Not a life lived under surveillance, hunted by threats she couldn’t see. And I would do whatever it took to restore that.

This stillness was rare. A fragile peace before the next battle, before she’d face the enemy she couldn’t see and I couldn’t fight for her.

Beyond the window, Istanbul stirred, the city suspended in morning twilight.

I stayed like that a while longer. Long enough to commit the weight of her arm, the warmth of her skin, the steady rhythm of her breath to memory. The way she’d let herself rest without fighting through nightmares. The peace that had settled over her features since the alteration.

Because peace like this never lasted. Not for us.

Carefully, I shifted to slide out from beneath her arm without waking her. She murmured something, turned onto her side, the sheet tangling around her legs. I pulled it higher over her shoulder before standing.

I turned to dress.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Her sleep-thick voice stopped me.

So much for not waking her.

I turned back. She was propped on one elbow now, watching me with those sharp eyes that saw too much. But there was something different in them this morning—something lighter. As though last night had shifted something fundamental between us, and she knew it, too.

I leaned over, kissed her cheek. “Rest.”

But she grabbed my arm, pulling me down. A playful grin on her face. “I did.”

She wasn’t stronger, but she was definitely faster.

“You’re going to get yourself into trouble.” A weak warning. A partial promise.

“I certainly hope so.”

The sheet slipped away. All she wore was the necklace. And temptation. Before I could make good on that promise, the phone buzzed. Sharp. Insistent.

It was still in my pocket on the floor.

One quick kiss, then I moved away to grab the phone and leave the room.