Ning Qing pointed a finger, and the light went out.
The room fell dark again.
Her bright eyes stayed open in the darkness, fixed calmly on the ceiling.
She had some Nightfolk Bloodline. The Nightfolk were named for their habit of sleeping by day and coming out at night—Curator An liked to sleep at the martial arts school during the day, then come out to train at night when everyone was gone, enjoying the whole place to himself. So Ning Qing could see well at night too.
The courtyard was unusually quiet late at night.
It was a residential compound of courtyard houses on the edge of the city, almost as quiet as the countryside.
Ning Qing lay still. She could hear Chen Shu breathing beside her, Peach doing parkour outside, and even the little girl watching television instead of sleeping in the next room. The silly girl thought Ning Qing couldn't hear if she turned the volume all the way down.
Two o'clock—
Chen Shu rolled over.
Three-thirty—
He reached toward her, felt around until he found her hand, and held it.
A little after four—
Perhaps he felt too hot and uncomfortable, because he let go.
Jerk.
Five o'clock.
He rolled over twice more. The last time, he draped a leg across hers. An hour later, he pulled it back and turned away from her to sleep.
I really want to hit him.
Seven o'clock.
He rolled back to face her, sleeping on his side, and laid a hand on her stomach.
Daylight had already broken outside.
Ning Qing had not slept all night or moved. She had simply watched the ceiling, sometimes thinking things over, sometimes turning to look at Chen Shu. She remembered everything he had done that night with perfect clarity.
She had wanted to