Chapter 7: A Thief's Bargain

The days following the full moon were a study in tense silence. The memory of that night hung between Kaine and me like a ghost, an unspoken thing that had shifted the very air we breathed. He was more rigid than ever, his commands clipped, his gaze avoiding mine whenever possible. It was as if by caring for me, even out of necessity, he had committed a grave sin against his own principles, and he was punishing us both for it. I, on the other hand, felt a strange clarity emerge from the fog...