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S able had to head home today for her meds and an in-person appointment. It wasn’t meant to take long, but when Dayton discovered she’d been skipping doses—again—he took it upon himself to intervene. He keeps an iron grip on her pill organizer now, ensuring it’s filled and double-checking that she takes every pill at the right time. It’s not subtle, and Sable fights him on it sometimes, but he doesn’t back down. He doesn’t let her brush it off.

We’ve been so consumed with the Syndicate, with Levi, with everything happening around us, that we didn’t stop to notice the little cracks forming. The way her OCD has been creeping in—the way she’s been quietly unraveling while we’ve been too distracted to see it.

Kai found the records from Lakeview.

The night Sable spiraled—the night she landed in the hospital—it wasn’t just a breakdown. There was a lethal amount of drugs in her system, drugs that shouldn’t have been there. Drugs someone put there.

The thought still makes me violent.

Someone could have killed her. They could have killed what’s mine.

But instead, they miscalculated. The drugs didn’t kill her. They pushed her into a state of psychosis, leaving her defenseless and vulnerable. It took days in the hospital to stabilize her. Months of nightmares. Lots of trial and error with medications until they found the right cocktail to keep her steady.

It could’ve been worse. So much worse.

Someone at Lakeview University did this. Someone who knew her well enough to strike with precision but underestimated her strength. It makes me want to burn Lakeview to the ground. I imagine storming the campus, tearing it apart brick by brick, until I find the bastard who thought they could get away with hurting her. My girl.

Dayton took her to the appointment today. He said she needed someone in her corner, and if anyone could make her feel steady, it was him. I wanted to go. I wanted to be the one to sit next to her, to hold her hand, to tell her she wasn’t alone. But Dayton gave me that look—the one that says, “I’ve got this, Silas. Let me handle it.”

So I stayed back. But waiting doesn’t come easy for me.

When she gets back, I’m not letting her out of my sight. I’ll make sure she eats. I’ll make sure she takes her meds. I’ll make sure she knows she’s not alone.

I’ll protect her—just like I promised.

The front door creaks open, followed by the muffled sound of boots scuffing against the hardwood floor. My head snaps up, my attention jerking toward the archway that separates the kitchen from the hall.

Dayton is the first through the door, shrugging off his coat and hanging it on the rack by the entryway. Sable follows close behind. Snow clings to her hair, melting into tiny droplets that slide down her flushed cheeks.

“Hey, Little Devil,” I say as I walk toward her.

She doesn’t meet my gaze, she just shrugs off her coat and lets me take it. I press a kiss to her temple.

“Hey,” she replies, but the word is quiet.

Kai steps into the hallway from the den, a mug of tea in his hand. His usual grin falters the moment he sees her. “Mahal.”

Sable doesn’t answer right away. She exhales a shaky breath, her shoulders sagging as she finally looks up, her gaze sweeping over the room, landing on each of us.

“It was a tough session.”

Dayton gives a slow blink, his silence speaks volumes. Whatever happened today, it wasn’t easy.

Sable’s hands clench into fists at her sides, her breaths shallow and uneven. “I just… I don’t want to think about it anymore. I don’t want to think about the meds, or the appointment, or any of it. I just?—”

Her words falter, and she swallows hard, her eyes glassy as she struggles to keep her composure. “I just want to forget for a little while. Can you… can you help me do that?”

I step closer, cupping her face in my hands, tilting her chin up until her gaze meets mine. “Do you want all of us to help you forget?”

She nods, her lower lip trembling.

A slow, devilish smile spreads across my lips as I glance over her shoulder at Kai. “Kai, get Levi. Meet me in Dayton’s room. Our girl needs us.”