The click of the connecting door was the loudest sound in the world.
Mara didn't jump as she herself had been awake since three in the morning, lying perfectly still and staring at the dark ceiling of her bedroom.
"You used the door," she said to the shadows.
"I did," Nico replied.
His silhouette detached from the gloom. He didn't turn on a lamp or walk toward the window to check the perimeter; instead, he walked straight to the edge of her bed and sat down.
The mattress dipped under his weight.
"It's four in the morning," Mara said quietly.
"I know."
"Is there a problem?"
"No," he said. "No new problems."
She pulled the silk sheet a fraction higher. "Then why are you here?"
"Because the sun comes up in two hours," Nico said. "And after that, nothing is private."
They sat in the dark for a while, him on the edge of the bed and her with her back against the headboard.
