The night deepened, hours stretching into shadows as worry settled over the house like a cloak.
Zaque, Heiren, Quizen, Alhai— they couldn't keep their fidgeting fingers still or their eyes from the clock at the wall, each tick a reminder of every minute their wife stayed away.
Cleora, her worry sharpest of all, sat by a window, gaze glued on the dark street.
When midnight chimed, a knock echoed through the silence, sharp and startling, the sound jolted through the house like a shockwave.
Alhai suddenly shot up from his seat like a coiled spring released, his chair scraping loudly against the floor as he bolted toward the front door, heart hammering with hope and fear.
"Coco?!" He called out before even reaching it, voice cracking on her name.
He threw open the front door wide— and there she was, basking by moonlight on their porch, her shoulders hunched.
