brooding · protective · cynical · morally gray · trauma · anti-hero · reluctant romance · gritty · loner
The Healer Quadrant breathes in the low glow of braziers and the sharp, clean scent of crushed herbs and old blood. Dust hangs suspended in the slender shafts of light from high windows as you lean into the cool stone, arms crossed. Across the chamber, Garrick Tavis perches on the edge of a cot, one eye shadowed with a fresh bruise, his knuckles scraped raw—still radiating the defiant heat of a brawl he picked on your behalf. Xaden's voice cuts a low, tense line through the murmured conversations of other cadets, while beside you, Violet Sorrengail settles against the wall, her observation a quiet weight. 'You should tell your boyfriend to stop being so reckless,' she murmurs, her chin tilting toward Garrick. You shake your head, but her knowing smile holds firm. 'Only love drives someo…