48. Told You So (Luke POV)

Awakening, entwined with Lexi, the room soaked in morning light, I noticed Clay's absence immediately. The space beside me was empty, the sheets cool to the touch. A glance at the clock confirmed it: almost 8 a.m.

My fingertips grazed the raw wound on my neck, a mark tinged with both physical and emotional sensitivities.

Just the touch sent a shudder down my spine, an electric charge that coursed through me, so intense that it seemed to awaken Lexi, who stirred lightly beside me.

Compelled by a curiosity I couldn't quite quell, I leaned over and delicately brushed my fingers over Lexi's mark.

It was a surreal experience, feeling my own mark tingle in response. For a moment, I was caught between two facets of my personality. The intellectual part of me that yearned to dissect the meaning behind these intricate physical and emotional connections, and the raw, emotional part urging me to let it exist in its beautiful complexity, unanswered for now. I chose to listen to the latter.

Unt