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With Calcifer, she could shove him off, and he’d grumble but roll right back over. Skye, though? He was too damn heavy to budge—not without waking him. And that was the last thing she wanted to do. He’d been running on fumes for days.

Carefully, she shifted her hips, testing how much give there was. Not much. Something hard and warm was wedged against her back. She arched instinctively—

Then stopped when her brain caught up.

Oh. Right.That.

Skye stirred, his arm tightening as a soft sound rumbled in his chest. She froze, her pulse jumping. After a moment, his breathing evened again.

Step one: get the arm off. Slowly, she tried to lift it, using her free hand to nudge it away. It was like trying to move a boulder.

“This would be so much easier if you weren’t made of rocks,” she whispered.

Step two: wiggle free. Feeling with her toes for the edge of the bed, she attempted to slide herself closer. The movement pulled his arm lower, and she almost squeaked when his hand brushed her hip.

She froze again, waiting. Skye shifted, just enough.

That was it—her window.

She slipped out from under him, easing sideways until gravity did the rest. Her feet hit the floor first. Then her hip. Then the rest of her as she slid off the mattress.

Silent. Graceful. Mostly.

She tiptoed across the room, a victorious spin marking her exit as she swept through the door.

Getting back into bed was easier. With her bladder pacified, Taly slid under the covers.

Skye was on his back now. Still not ready for sleep, she reached for the book on the nightstand, curious to see what she’d been reading the last time she was here.

In the soft firelight, the title glowed in delicate calligraphy.

Guardian of the Shards

If not for Skye still asleep beside her, she might’ve thrown it straight into the fire. Instead, she settled for gently setting it back down with a quiet shudder.

It was her favorite book. She’d read it so many times, the pages had become part of her.

And now she needed to forget every single word.

Because as it turned out, it wasn’t just any love story. It wastheirlove story.

Every heated glance, every stolen moment, every sigh-inducing confession—it had all been about… her parents.

Taly pressed the heels of her palms to her eyes, as if that could scrub away the memory. This was fine. She was fine. After all, who didn’t grow up idolizing a sweeping, star-crossed romance written in beautiful, aching prose? This one just happened to document the events leading up to her conception.

She growled a sigh. She didn’t want to think about her parents. Not in any context, horrifying or otherwise.

She didn’t want to think about that name—Corinna Venwraith.

A name like that wasn’t just a name. It was a responsibility. It carried weight, expectations, legacy.

A name like that belonged in history books. It didn’t leave space for Taly, who was already so much less than she’d been, chipped away by every new revelation into a brand-new shape.

Turning onto her side, she found Skye.

A name like that matched a name like his.

In another life, she wondered if Corinna Venwraith and Skylen Emrys would’ve crossed paths. Would she have danced with him at court? Exchanged pleasantries? Debated politics over cups of spiced wine beneath gilded chandeliers?