Morning sunlight spilled across the room in streaks, illuminating the dark sheets tangled around Alaric and the faint outline of exhaustion still resting on his face.
The sharp ache from the gunshot wound lingered beneath the bandages wrapped around his torso but for the first time in days, he had managed to sleep without waking every hour.
Perhaps that was why the sudden flash of light against his eyes irritated him far more than it normally should have.
His brows furrowed deeply as he groaned and turned his face away instinctively, one hand lifting to shield his vision. For a brief moment everything remained blurry with sleep but then his senses slowly caught up to reality.
And reality, unfortunately, looked like Elena Vaughn sitting comfortably on the edge of his bed with her phone pointed directly at his face.
Another flash nearly went off before Alaric caught her wrist midway, his voice rough from sleep and irritation.
"What are you doing?"
