Blackw

ad personally shown me to when the door swung open.

mth that made my skin crawl. "Alistair was so eager he forgot this wing is... undergoing

led me not toward the main wing where the family and guest rooms were, but down a long, d

ts, its omegas, and those who had fallen out of favor. It was kno

ay to put me in my place while maintaining a veneer of civility f

pushed it open. The room beyond was sparse and grim. A narrow bed with a thin mattress, a r

in the main house are occupied at the moment. You'll have to make do with this for jus

to see if I would lash out, if I would use my newf

ned to her with a serene smile. "It's perf

a fight. Now she just looked slightly confused. She followed me in

areful distance. She took my hand, her own feeling cold and dry against my skin. Her eyes, for the fi

with emotion. "Seeing you here, safe...

omes. The

ou remember what happened that day? One moment you were playing in the gardens, and t

t with grief but with triumphant hatred as she drove away, leaving a terrified five-year-old girl on the steps of the g

refully constructed confusion. I pulled my ha

my hands, avoiding her piercing gaze. "My first memory is of the orphanage. The doctors... they sai

h my lashes, my expression a perfe

sign of deception. She found none. I had spent years at Aegis study

e boug

mile spread across her face. The threat she had feared most-a wit

Her touch no longer felt like a test, but like a dismissal. "W

ezy. "You get some rest. If you need anything, ju

I could hear her humming soft

sk of the fragile victim dissolved. My f

t at the dark, silent woods. The moon cast l

d vow forming in my soul. And I will make you pay

ices, finding none. Then, I pulled my backpack onto t

ted number. It was time t