Alexei woke with a smug little smile tugging at his lips. The kind of smile that only came from falling asleep beside a hot date and waking up to... nothing?
Warm air brushed his skin as the fog of sleep thinned. He sobered enough to blink around.
The bed beside him was empty.
There was no warm imprint of another body. No scent lingering on the pillow. Not even a stray hair.
"What the...?"
He patted the sheets like Elijah might've slipped between them overnight.
But nope.
The murder weapon of a book and the reading glasses that had been there last night were gone, too.
He sat up, groaning, the covers sliding off his bare chest.
Sleep clinging to his eyelids and muddled-headed, Alexei groggily padded out of the room.
"Did he... vanish into thin air?"
Reaching the kitchen, he couldn't help but rub his eyes to take a proper look.
