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The adrenaline that had sustained Ruhanika through the confrontation finally ebbed away, replaced by a crushing, leaden exhaustion. Her eyelids fluttered and closed, her breathing evening out into the rhythmic pull of deep sleep as she drifted off right there against his shoulder. Avyukt froze. He felt the shift in her body—the way her tension evaporated, leaving her soft and heavy against him. For a long minute, he didn't move, terrified that even a heartbeat too loud might wake her from the first peaceful rest she'd had in days.