Zane's charger stopped working late in the night, a small inconvenience that only registered because the phone failed to respond after several minutes plugged in. He adjusted the cable, checked the outlet, tried again, then turned the connector slightly as if angle alone might coax it back to life. The battery indicator remained unmoved. The charger had been unreliable for weeks, temperamental enough to need replacing but easy to ignore until it finally refused to cooperate.
Willow was already asleep beside him, her breathing slow and even, one arm tucked beneath the pillow the way it always was when she was worn past the point of surface exhaustion. Zane did not want to wake her. Not for something this small. Not when the day had already taken more than it had returned. He shifted carefully, keeping the mattress from dipping, then reached over and switched on the small reading light built into her nightstand, angling the glow downward so it would not spill across her face.
