Ishtar woke up slowly.
Not because she was rested.
Because for once, she hadn't slept alone.
The realization reached her before she even opened her eyes.
Warm sheets. Another scent on the pillow. Black strands of hair still caught against the fabric beside her.
Mia.
A slow smile crossed Ishtar's face before she could stop it.
Well.
Fuck.
She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling.
The room was quiet now. Pale morning light slipped through the curtains in thin silver lines, soft enough to make everything feel unreal.
Mia was gone.
Of course she was gone.
Ishtar let out a small breath through her nose. Half amusement. Half disappointment.
"Coward," she muttered softly.
Not cruel.
Almost affectionate.
Her body still remembered the night in fragments.
Mia close to her.
The hesitation.
The tension every time Ishtar moved too fast.
The way Mia reacted like someone standing between hunger and panic.
And beneath all of it—
something darker.
Not evil.
Wounded.
Ishtar closed her eyes briefly.
Noire.
Lilith.
The sudden switches.
The way Mia's entire presence could change in less than a second.
Most people would have backed away.
Ishtar wanted back in immediately.
That was probably unhealthy.
Too bad.
A low laugh escaped her before she dragged a hand across her face.
She really liked her.
Not just attraction.
Not just adrenaline.
Mia made her want to stay close.
Protective instinct.
Dangerous instinct.
Hakkad instinct.
That thought cooled her mood slightly.
Her gaze shifted toward the window.
Rain still clung to the glass outside.
The Sanctuary remained peaceful.
Hidden.
For now.
Ishtar sat up slowly, the mattress creaking softly beneath her weight. Her muscles ached pleasantly from yesterday's fight. Bruised knuckles. Tight shoulders. A shallow cut already healed along her forearm.
Nothing serious.
Hakkad blood healed fast when it wanted to.
Her expression darkened slightly.
Family.
The word alone felt heavy.
Baruch Hakkad.
Her father.
A warlord dressed as a patriarch.
A man who could turn a dinner conversation into a psychological execution without raising his voice.
Then the brothers.
Zarek locked away like a living weapon. Borak plotting endlessly from the shadows. Isham pretending peace could hold forever.
And all of them connected through that same thing beneath the skin.
Violence waiting patiently.
Ishtar rested her elbows on her knees.
If the Hakkad knew Mia was here…
No.
Correction.
If they knew what Mia really was becoming—
things would escalate fast.
The Nine Families tolerated Triple E because the system was useful.
Predictable.
Controlled.
But Mia?
Mia looked less and less controllable every day.
And uncontrollable things made families like hers nervous.
Which usually meant blood followed shortly after.
Ishtar rubbed the back of her neck slowly.
Would Baruch try to use Mia?
Break her?
Recruit her?
Kill her before someone else could?
Hard to say.
With Hakkads, the answer was often: all of the above.
A faint smile returned despite herself.
And somehow—
despite all that—
her strongest thought this morning remained embarrassingly simple:
> I want to kiss her again.
Ishtar stared at the empty side of the bed for a long second.
Then she shook her head once, almost annoyed at herself.
"Pathetic."
The word carried no real conviction.
Outside the room, she could already hear the Sanctuary beginning to wake.
Footsteps. Distant voices. Someone laughing downstairs.
Life continuing.
Temporary peace before the next disaster.
Ishtar stood.
Stretched slowly.
Then reached down and picked up Mia's hoodie from the floor.
Black fabric. Still warm.
For a second she just held it there silently.
A stupidly soft expression crossing the face of a woman capable of breaking bones with her bare hands.
Humanity was humiliating sometimes.