Clank!
Clara's door slid open as Damian stepped in. The room was dark and unnaturally quiet, as though it had been abandoned, yet beneath that stillness he could hear it clearly… the faint, uneven tremor of her body as she shivered under the weight of her fever.
His heart sank.
Before his mind could even catch up, his body moved. In the next instant, he became nothing more than a blur, reappearing at the foot of her bed, his gaze fixed on the fragile figure curled beneath the duvet.
He did not hesitate.
Slipping beneath the covers with quiet care, he moved close and slid his arms gently around her, his hands finding her burning skin as he drew her into his chest.
Clara was too consumed by the fever to notice his arrival. The sudden warmth startled her, her body jolting instinctively, but then she caught it… his scent.
"Damian?" she muttered weakly, her voice barely more than a breath.
Almost immediately, something shifted.
