lah'

een Si

ss, and unmoving, yet somehow the most powerful presence in this

l me "healer," but I see the way they lower their heads when I pass. As if they can feel it. The

mention

at me like I was once

eople are entirely new... or they've truly forgot

hasn't f

aph

wonder. She never lingers, never greets me with warmth

walking up the hallway toward M

aphi

urning to me like sh

told Caleb and his warriors I'm here

hout flinching. "Bec

d?" I r

ou'll leave. There's no

rowning. "So you h

he guards recognized you, which they

er-not entirely. Her calm unnerved me, the way s

oming here?" I asked.

ha. A lycan," she replied. "I

was something else behind her eyes, somethin

nd pestle, and the last set of herbs I'd been preparing for days. This was it. The final

sharp, bitt

rf

s room, Seraphine was gone. As al

softly. But the color had returned to his skin, subt

the tonic down his throat. He swallowed automatical

stillness, I whispered, "Come back to me. Yo

thing down my gown

n't g

cross from his. Not directly, but angled in such a way that when his door

stream of warm water. The light in the room was soft, kissed by the

lked

behind me, but

he fabric fall like silk to the floor. Piece by piece, I undress

taken everyt

? Would gi

n like silk. The light from the nearby lanterns flickered softly

didn't care. In fact, I welcomed the sens

d told them it was to rest. To soak and recover from

d fall back, my hair cascading down my back, the ends dipping into the water.

ittle ripples that danced and shimmered. I scooped up a handful and let i

little shivers of pleasure through me. I did it again, this time letting t

ed into a smile as I heard the footsteps, one, two, just as I had expected. I knew he would wake in few minutes, and then I

it dripped from my hardened nipples. I could feel eyes on me, watching me, and I resisted the urge to loo

. I could feel myself getting wet, and not just from the water. I let out a soft moan as my fingers found my clit, the sensati

d me touch myself. I let my head fall back again, my hair swirling in the water around me, my bod

y fingers barely grazing

to the side, ey

e was st

ndo of my own moment, rising and falling like a breathless

en... I

miliar grey ones watching me from the barely c

o

had never