Kamrynn’s POV
It had been days since I heard that name.
“Kamrynn.”
A voice in my head had whispered it so clearly, so intimately, that it sent shivers down my spine.
And I hadn’t been able to get it out of my mind since.
I didn’t understand why it unsettled me so much. I knew my memory wasn’t whole-I had long accepted that pieces of my past were missing. But was Kamrynn someone I used to know? Someone important?
Someone I had forgotten?
I should ask Lorien.
It was the logical thing to do. He would have answers.
And yet, every time I thought about it, something held me back.
I couldn’t explain it. It was just an instinct, a whisper in the back of my mind warning me to stay quiet.
But why?
Why couldn’t I bring myself to tell him?
I had no reason to hesitate. Lorien had always been there for me. He was my husband, the only person I had ever known. The only one who had ever cared for me. He had been nothing but patient with me, always so gentle, always-
I trusted him.
Didn’t I?
I sighed, rubbing my temples.
Maybe it wasn’t just the name.
Maybe it was him.
Hadn’t he been acting strange lately?
At first, I thought I was imagining it, but no-it was real.
Lorien had started sleeping in, something completely out of character for someone so energetic. He was taking showers more frequently, spending longer in the bathroom than usual, sometimes multiple times a day. And then there was the physical distance-something he had never once cared for before.
Lorien was touchy. He always had been. He had no concept of personal space, always pulling me close, wrapping himself around me, pressing feather-light kisses against my temple, my hands, my fingers.
But now…
Now, he barely touched me.
Now, he flinched when our fingers brushed.
Now, he kept his distance.
And at night, when I reached for him in bed, all I felt was cold sheets.
He had started sleeping in the living room most nights, saying that I needed the bed to myself, that I would sleep better that way.
It didn’t make sense.
I didn’t sleep better without him.
I had grown so used to being surrounded by his warmth, to his deep voice murmuring in my ear before I drifted off, to the safety I felt in his arms.
But now… it was gone.
And I had no idea why.
Had I done something wrong?
Was he angry with me?
The idea made my chest tighten, but I couldn’t think of a single thing I had done that would make him keep his distance.
If anything, his behavior proved I wasn’t the problem.
Because it wasn’t just the way he avoided me.
It was the way he reacted to me.
There were moments-fleeting, yet impossible to ignore-when Lorien would pull me close, his body taut with tension, his fingers digging ever so slightly into my waist. He would lean in, pressing his face into the curve of my neck, inhaling deeply, almost desperately, as if he were starved for something only I could give him.
And then… he would stop.
Every single time.
I would feel the ghost of his lips on my skin, the slight graze of his teeth, but just when I thought he was going to bite down, to mark me the way I had seen animals do in the wild, he would jerk away as if burned, his breath unsteady, his body trembling.
I didn’t understand.
And that wasn’t all.
Sometimes, without warning, he would start burning up, his skin radiating heat like an open flame, his usually flawless composure unraveling into something raw. His face would flush, his chest rising and falling too fast, his fingers twitching at his sides as if he was holding himself back from something.
And the worst part?
He refused to let me help him.
Whenever I reached out, desperate to soothe whatever was tormenting him, he would flinch-flinch away from me-and snap at me not to touch him. His usually calm, teasing demeanor would disappear, replaced by something irritable-something on edge.
Then he would disappear.
Lock himself in the bedroom or vanish into the bathroom for hours on end.
The first time it happened, I had panicked, thinking he had caught some kind of sickness.
I begged him to tell me what was wrong. I worried he was dying.
But all he ever said was:
“It’s fine.”
He would brush me off like it was nothing, like the pain I saw in his eyes wasn’t real.
“This is normal for dragons,” he insisted, but he never explained why.
Never told me what it meant.
And that-more than anything-made me feel helpless.
Useless.
Why was he hiding things from me?
Why wouldn’t he trust me?
What else was he keeping from me?
I was tired of asking questions, wondering about the infinite possibilities. So I decided to take action, I couldn’t bear to be in the dark anymore. I deserved to know the truth.
The moment Lorien stepped out of the house, I knew this was my chance.
It didn’t happen often-him leaving me alone like this. If anything, he seemed to hover around me more than necessary, like he was always keeping an eye on me. Like he was waiting for something.
But not today.
Today, I was alone. And I wasn’t going to waste this opportunity.
I was going to find out what the hell was going on with him.
With a determined breath, I strode into the bedroom and shut the door behind me. My eyes swept over the space, taking in the neatly made bed, the pristine surfaces, and the closet doors standing innocently closed. Everything looked normal, but I knew better than to trust appearances.
Lorien was hiding something, and I was going to find it.
I started with the drawers. Pulling them open one by one, I sifted through their contents, careful to put things back exactly as I found them. Clothes, accessories, small trinkets-nothing unusual. No hidden notes, no medicine bottles, no letters explaining why he had been acting so strange.
I moved on to the closet next, sliding open the heavy wooden doors and digging through his clothes. I checked the pockets of his coats, feeling around for anything tucked away. I searched the shelves, pushing aside neatly folded garments, but there was nothing.
I even knelt down and ran my hands along the floor of the closet, looking for loose floorboards or compartments. When that turned up empty, I climbed onto the bed and reached up, pressing against the ceiling in case there was some kind of hidden panel.
Still nothing.
I let out a frustrated sigh and sat back on the bed.
Was I being ridiculous? Maybe I was imagining things, making something out of nothing just because I didn’t understand his behavior. Maybe there really wasn’t anything to find.
I flopped back against the pillows, staring up at the ceiling. The room was quiet, the only sound was my own breathing. I closed my eyes, just for a moment, trying to gather my thoughts.
When I opened them again, the bedside lamp caught my attention.
The bulb flickered faintly, casting a strange, uneven shadow on the wall. My brows furrowed. That was… odd. I had never noticed it before.
Sitting up, I reached out and turned the lamp on and off a few times. The flickering happened again, but this time, I noticed something else.
The light reflected an unusual shape.
Something was there, hidden beneath the lampshade.
Curious, I leaned forward and carefully removed the shade, my fingers brushing against the metal harp that held the bulb in place. And that’s when I saw it.
A small, metallic glint.
A key.
It was taped securely to the harp of the lamp, almost invisible unless you were looking for it.
My breath caught in my throat as I carefully peeled the tape away, freeing the key from its hiding place.
Why would Lorien hide something like this?
And more importantly… what did it unlock?