Silent Scars

CHAPTER 85

MARCUS HASTINGS

My back hurt like hell.

It was the kind of ache that felt fused into the bones, the kind you couldn’t stretch out, only live through. The price of sleeping slouched against a couch with half my weight twisted sideways.

But even through the soreness, I felt something else.

Warmth.

Not just the physical kind, though the pile of blankets and limbs certainly helped but something deeper. Something that made my chest feel full in a way I hadn’t known I needed.

I cracked one eye open, the filtered light of morning sneaking through the curtains. Everything looked soft, golden. The living room still held the hush of sleep, the kind that only settled after storms had passed.

I glanced down.

And my heart squeezed.

Lana.

Tucked into my side like she belonged there.

She was still asleep, her breath steady and light. Her head rested against my arm, hair a wild mess of waves and curls that had half buried her face. One hand was curled near her mouth, the other nestled beneath the folds of the blanket Luca had wrapped around her. She looked so small like this.

So....safe.

And God, she looked cute.

Not in the polished way people liked to pretend mattered. Not in anything artificial. Just real.

Real and soft and scrunched up slightly like she was still learning how to accept rest. Like her body didn’t know what it meant to sleep without fear yet, but she was trying anyway.

A little crease sat between her brows, like even now, she was bracing for something.

I wanted to smooth it away.

Instead, I stayed still.

Because I didn’t want to wake her. Not when she looked like this.

Peaceful.

Like the war inside her had finally gone quiet, even if just for a few hours.

I shifted my gaze to the other side.

Luca had curled toward her in his sleep, face turned in her direction, his arm lightly resting near hers. His breathing was deep, lips slightly parted, dark lashes resting softly against his cheek. He looked like he hadn’t moved all night.

And then there was Kendric.

Oh God.

He was sprawled halfway across my lap, one arm thrown over Ariana’s middle like a clingy octopus, and was that drool?

Yeah.

That was definitely drool.

I stared at it for a moment, then sighed quietly through my nose.

Figures.

Kendric muttered something in his sleep, unintelligible, and smacked his lips before burrowing deeper into Ariana’s side, like he couldn’t stand the idea of her being even an inch further away.

I could’ve rolled my eyes.

But instead, I smiled.

This.

This was what we were supposed to be. This strange, chaotic pile of limbs and sleep and warmth. For once, no blood. No shouting. No pain.

Just us.