Chapter 650: The Quiet Between Heartbeats

Evening had settled fully by the time anything changed in the room.

The light outside had already softened into that dull gold-blue blend that came just before night, where everything felt slightly distant, as if the world itself was holding its breath. Snow fell steadily.

Inside the room, nothing moved.

Sophia lay on the bed exactly as she had been for hours.

Her breathing was steady, controlled in a way that made it clear she was alive, stable... but not fully there.

Lysander had checked her more than once.

He had already confirmed it.

Everything was stable.

Still, Orion hadn’t accepted that easily.

"Why isn’t she waking up?" Orion asked again, his voice rougher than before. "It’s been hours. It’s already evening."

Lysander didn’t look up immediately from where he stood near the bedside.

"Calm down," he said simply.

But Orion didn’t calm down.

He rubbed a hand down his face, dragging it over tired features that looked like they hadn’t known rest in a long time. His eyes were red-rimmed from exhaustion and the constant strain of waiting.

Eldric’s words still lingered in his mind, what he had learned from Caspian replaying over and over again like something he couldn’t shut off even if he tried.

And now Orion knew there was a reason the Nightshade Pack had been insistent that the Luna had white hair.

But even that knowledge, though he had been the one to ask for it, didn’t matter right now.

Nothing else did except Sophia.

He wanted to see her eyes staring at him directly. Those expressive blue orbs of hers, clear as they stared back at him.

He didn’t care how. He just wanted to see them, even if those eyes were filled with disgust or irritation at something he had done. But most of all, he wanted those eyes to be light and full of laughter as they stared at him—that was what he hoped for more than anything.

But at this point, anything was better than this silence.

Orion let out a tired breath, and it turned into a yawn before he could stop it.

Lysander finally looked at him properly.

"Get some rest," he said.

Orion shook his head immediately.

"I can’t," he said. "What if something happens and I’m not right next to her?"

Lysander’s expression didn’t change.

"If she needs you, I’ll call you," he said calmly. "But you’re not helping her by collapsing next to her bed."

Orion opened his mouth, then closed it again.

He let out a low breath, like he was fighting himself more than the argument.

His shoulders finally dropped slightly.

He looked at the bed again where Sophia lay still.

"...Fine," he said at last, though it sounded more like surrender than agreement. "Just for a while."

Lysander gave a small nod.

"That’s all I’m asking."

Orion hesitated a moment longer, like even the idea of moving away felt wrong. Then slowly, he lowered himself beside the bed.

Just enough.

He rested his arms against the edge of the mattress and placed his head down on them.

And almost immediately, sleep took him. Exhaustion winning after all.

Lysander let out a quiet, faint chuckle under his breath as he glanced at him.

It was obvious, really.

Orion had been running on nothing for too long.

Lysander shifted his attention back to Sophia, resuming his position like he had never left it in the first place.

He kept his promise.

He watched.

He waited.

And the room fell into a strange kind of stillness again.

Time passed without announcing itself.

The candles in the lanterns burned lower.

Their light thinning into soft flickers that stretched shadows longer across the walls.

Outside, guards moved through the compound in slow rotations, torches being checked and adjusted as the night settled deeper into place.

Everything remained intact.

Everything remained quiet.

Hours passed like that.

Until midnight came, and that was when the first change took place. It was subtle at first.

But then it sounded again, and Lysander picked up the sound—the faintest movement of fabric against fabric.

He had stepped away only briefly, just long enough to handle something outside the room, a quick necessity he could not avoid, and had only just returned when he heard it.

His head snapped up immediately.

His entire posture changed in an instant, alert and controlled, as his eyes locked onto the bed.

Sophia moved, and then she sat up, slowly, as if her body was reacquainting itself with the idea of being awake.

Lysander was already on his feet before she was fully upright.

He didn’t move closer immediately; he just watched her carefully.

Waiting for confirmation that this was truly her and not something else entirely.

But Sophia didn’t look at him first.

Her gaze went straight to Orion, who was still asleep.

Her expression softened almost instantly, something sad flickering across her face as she took him in.

"...I’ve been out for long?" she asked quietly.

Lysander let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

Only then did the tension in his shoulders loosen slightly.

"It’s been about a day and some hours," he said.

Sophia blinked slowly, then lowered her gaze.

"I see..." she said softly. "I’m sorry."

Lysander shook his head immediately.

"There’s nothing to be sorry for," he replied. "I’m actually just glad you’re back."

That made her pause.

Then she looked at him again. She wondered if he would still have the same thought if he found out who she really was.

But she only nodded.

"I’m glad to be back too."

Lysander noticed how sad her eyes were. But he didn’t say anything.

He shifted slightly as if about to move towards Orion, but Sophia shook her head.

"No, please," she said. "I’m sure he needs the rest."

Lysander hesitated.

Sophia’s eyes stayed on Orion for another second longer before she added, quieter now, "And besides, I need to do something first."

That made Lysander pause completely.

Before he could ask what she meant, she was already moving.

She did so carefully and quietly, so as not to wake Orion. She swung her legs off the bed and stood.