Chapter 51: New place

"Do you know when Magnus will be back?" I asked quietly, sitting on the edge of the sofa in the middle of his living room.

For some reason, I hadn’t expected an apartment like this. I wasn’t entirely sure why I had pictured opulent, classic luxury, but I certainly hadn’t anticipated an industrial loft. Exposed brick painted in a stark, matte black, minimalist metal furniture with harsh angles, and a massive kitchen island that flowed right into the living area, illuminated by three heavy black lamps hanging from long iron chains.

It felt completely alien. Raw, brutal, and utterly unyielding—the home of a man who had no use for soft edges or warmth. A man who didn’t need comfort.

"No idea. But don’t wait up for him," Sayan replied without looking up, his thumbs flying across the screen of his phone in a rapid blur. "I’m heading out to meet him right now, so you should just get some sleep. You need the rest."

Only now did I take in how disheveled he looked. His hair was messy, deep dark circles bruised the skin beneath his eyes, and he still looked half-asleep. He was wearing rumpled gray sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt, looking as though he had been dragged straight out of bed without even a second to pull himself together.

He slid his phone away, letting out a low, muttered curse through his teeth, and dragged both hands over his face to force back another wave of exhaustion.

"Here’s your tea," he said, picking up a steaming mug from the kitchen island and setting it down in front of me on the raw-wood coffee table.

"Thank you," I breathed, wrapping both palms around the warm ceramic to chase away the lingering chill.

"So what were you even doing outside the cafe that late? You don’t strike me as the type of person who wanders around after dark," he asked, pulling a heavy hoodie off a nearby shelf and casually slinging it over his shoulders so the sleeves dangled across his chest. "It was already deep into the night, and that neighborhood isn’t exactly safe."

"I was delayed at the food distribution site today... There turned out to be far more people than we expected," I murmured, taking a cautious sip of the hot tea.

"Food distribution? Why were you handing out food?" Sayan asked, genuinely baffled. He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, casually turning it over between his long fingers.

"Volunteering," I explained softly. "Rolan, the man who owns the rabbit cafe where I work, runs a volunteer program. Every Sunday, we distribute food packages to people who have fallen on hard times."

"I see. So you work at the cafe all week and then hand out food on your day off..." He narrowed his eyes, studying me with faint disbelief. "How much do they even pay you for a full day of that? Running around from morning till night must be exhausting."

"Not inside the cafe," I corrected, shaking my head. "We distribute the packages outside, at various spots across the city. And I don’t get paid for Sundays. That’s the whole point of volunteering—helping people not for a paycheck, but simply because you want to."

Sayan froze mid-movement. I felt his gaze instantly grow heavier, probing and intent.

"And does it actually work? Do you end up helping a lot of people?"

"Yes, we really do," I nodded, the familiar faces of the regulars floating into my mind. "A lot of the people who used to struggle just to make it through the day are looking so much better now. Rolan has been doing this for a long time—he even helps some of them find jobs through his contacts. We also partner with an outreach foundation that donates clothes. It’s modest, but every bit of support matters. I don’t have much to offer myself, but I help in any small way I can."

"And how long have you been slaving away for free like this?"

I subtly winced at his choice of words. I openly disliked the phrasing, but I chose not to call him out on it. Very few people in my life ever truly understood why I spent my rare free time doing this. But as Rolan once told me: The well-fed will never truly understand the starving.

"I started helping Rolan back in high school, right after I learned what his organization was doing."

Sayan’s brow furrowed even deeper, his sharp eyebrows almost meeting over the bridge of his nose. Before he could speak, his phone buzzed violently in his hand. Glancing down at the screen, he cursed under his breath.

Wishing me a quick goodnight, he turned on his heel and hurried out of the loft, leaving me completely alone in the vast, quiet space. It was obvious he had more questions, but whatever message he received demanded his immediate presence.

I finished the last drop of tea, feeling a comforting warmth blossom in my chest. Setting the mug back on the raw-wood coffee table, I stood up to find the bathroom. Exploring the hall, I realized the loft had two other rooms besides the bath area—a private study and a primary bedroom. I didn’t dare cross those thresholds, unwilling to invade Magnus’s personal sanctuary, though my curiosity burned bright.

Inside the bathroom, I splashed cold water over my face, washing away the dried tear tracks, before retreating back to the safety of the living room sofa.

Despite the intense stress of the night, exhaustion began to pull heavily at my eyelids. I hadn’t expected to sleep at all in an unfamiliar place—my frayed nerves usually kept me wide awake. But the moment my head hit the cushions, I began drifting off into the haze of sleep.

I pulled Magnus’s heavy coat over myself like a blanket to ward off the chill. He clearly thrived in cold environments, keeping the loft’s thermostat set to a crisp, freezing temperature, whereas my body craved warmth and shivered easily.

I couldn’t tell how long I hovered on the threshold between sleep and reality, sinking into the dark quiet only to float back to the surface. But eventually, I slipped under completely. At some point, a sudden, weightless sensation of flying washed over me. Starled, I twitched and instinctively reached out, my fingers curling into something solid, firm, and intensely warm.

A sudden wave of relief washed through me as the icy draft vanished. I snuggled closer into that blazing source of heat, letting it completely envelop me, shielding my body from the harsh cold of the world.