na'

like the air itself was holding its breath. My skin prickled before

I fel

e

mi

l lingering. A scent that curled around my lungs before I could stop it. Woodsmoke

fast, too bright, too humiliating to fully look at. My throat tighten

blankets tangled around my waist like

shaking hand

have

ave th

breathing, a deep voice

are a

a

oom like he had been watching the whole time. His hair was slightly mussed, his chest bare, and there wa

se stu

e just looked at me as though he was

most

and caught my arm with one strong hand. The heat of h

," I wh

re sha

id le

did

before I could

hair was damp, like he had been washing his face. His eyes found

hed and I hat

lie back dow

voice sounded thin and breakab

brother

One I did not understand but felt a

, stumbling a little as the blanket slid to the floor. My bare

here first. He picked it up and draped it around my shoulders without saying

away too

almost imp

not

ld make this moment worse, footsteps echoe

snapped towa

stif

he back of my

opened and she

shimmered every time she moved. Her golden hair fell in soft waves to her shoulder

rat

tate

mpled

n a

ns half

tbeat she

arted the s

r to open up and

nhaled

jaw tig

moothing her expression into s

am sorry. I did not expe

cticed tone. One used in rooms where she n

forward. "Y

oked innocent. "The Council asked me to arrive befo

mach d

tra

con

e

g hands and back again. Confusion flickered through her, then

e have met," she sa

e ice water slidi

grac

br

ca

outh but noth

en us again, as if pie

softer now. "This must

roat

front of me befor

necessary," he

gaze lingered on him longer than it should have. Her lips par

inside h

saw

y saw

ot know what

d your role. You will accept the Coun

n again. And this time something new simmered under her express

t is why you have been avoidin

d. "Do not as

she suddenly felt foolish. "Of course.

lid to the

sh

sc

e

ession f

y s

y q

t invi

lou

beginni

squeezed through her ches

bowed. "I should give you privacy

me, she paused. Just a fraction of a second.

reeders are usually kept in separate quar

didn't rea

e left

icked shut

she left behin

slowly. "This

jaw with one hand

d hard. "W

as quiet. "Our

h twisted

ere still there. "She is not supposed to ca

n his face said

wo

ill move you. She cannot

ulse raced. Something

spects somethin

or with a troubled fro

rkened. "She will no

hroat because suddenly b

ated. "What happe

of them

ence told me

ewhere down

a stoppe

against

and to her

o herself in a

rt to see him

s her b

rt of my ne