The bedroom inside the newly evolved manor was dark, quiet, and entirely too crowded.
I lay flat on my back, staring up at the heavy wooden beams of the ceiling, completely incapable of sleep.
The physical and emotional exhaustion of the last few days should have knocked me out for a week, but my mind refused to shut down.
To my left, Reika was curled into a tight ball, her fox tails occasionally twitching against my ribs like a fuzzy metronome.
To my right, Celeste slept with a rigid, defensive posture, one hand instinctively resting near her casting focus even in her dreams.
Valka was sprawled across the foot of the massive bed like a fallen soldier, her breathing slow and heavy, while Astra occupied a quiet corner of the room, sitting slumped in an armchair with a blanket pulled up to her chin.
