Zephyra's POV
I woke up with the kind of headache that felt like a hammer had been pounding away at the inside of my skull all night. My temples throbbed, and my vision felt a little blurry.
I groaned, rolling over slowly, expecting to see Astraea's face, those eyes softened by sleep, maybe her long hair sprawled across the pillow, but when I opened my eyes fully, there was nothing.
The bed beside me was empty.
And it wasn't just empty; it was cold. Like no one had been there at all. My heart dropped a little, but I pushed the feeling away. Maybe she'd gone to the bathroom or to get something. It didn't mean anything, and she could even be in the next room.
I sat up, squinting into the darkness. The room was pitch black, with no moonlight slipping in through the curtains, not even the blinking of a digital clock.
It was like all the light in the world had been swallowed whole, and I blinked a few times, trying to adjust my eyes to the darkness, but it was useless.
