Try again. I dare you.

The bed was cold.

Malvoria rolled over, half-asleep, expecting the familiar warmth of Elysia tucked against her side the curve of her back fitting so perfectly into the hollow of Malvoria's body, the way her silver hair tangled across the pillow, strands finding their way onto Malvoria's chest overnight.

But today, there was nothing but a dent in the sheets and the faint scent of roses.

She cracked one eye open, squinting against the early light filtering through the window.

Gone.

"Traitor," she muttered into the mattress, her voice gravelly with sleep. "You abandoned me."

She sprawled like a sulking feline, one leg thrown dramatically over the side of the bed. "No kiss. No good morning."

For a long moment, she considered staying there just to make a point. Maybe Elysia would come back.

Maybe she was hiding behind a curtain, waiting to leap out and confess her undying love and apologize for this betrayal.

But alas.