Chapter 136. Venom in the Blood

The house remained hushed in the early morning light, as though it, too, were holding its breath until Daniel arrived. I woke well before him, slipped from my bed, and wandered down the long corridor toward the library. I needed something—anything—to occupy my mind. Inside, rows of leather-bound tomes and modern paperbacks formed a comforting wall around me. I settled at a wooden table beneath a stained-glass window, its colors shifting with the rising sun. Over the next hour, I drifted from shelf to shelf, leafing through volumes on the ancient history of werewolves and vampires, devouring every scrap of lore I could find. I was determined to distract myself, to fill the silence and the ache in my chest with facts and theories rather than worry.

When Daniel finally walked in, his presence snapped me back to reality. He carried that steady, solid air about him—like the ground underfoot, reliable and unwavering. He nodded as he reached the table, brushing stray hairs from his f