ia'

in the doo

s on the edge of the tub, two arm-lengths away

yoursel

either. Something in it was being he

ining himself. The air in the small room was thick with steam, and for the first time in fifteen years my scent was loose, rising off b

oser. He had stopp

ing too hard. Then a sound rolled out of his chest, half a syll

turn

my throat and I caught it against my palm. Behind me, that low, strange sound came again, and I realized he was

I understood he had bee

" he said again,

over my shoulders

t would never slam a door. But the sound

the wood, flat as a b

etreated, and the co

hen I pulled the necklace over my head and let it settle a

the charm. Only then did I notice that my skin still burned where his

r. My body had no right to react to

next, another thought surface

ht, every advantage-I had been bare an

turned

arm under the firelight. There was a faint dark line

mer than it had b

I knew my own heartbeat. And it was fainter now. Just sl

osed to wait

hem. I would not take it off again before my birthday. I swore i

reconstruct wh

pse of shoulder through the steam. A fragment of reflection in the water, maybe. Then he had turned. Then

But he had not seen me.

spicion lived in his head, he could not p

f, until the word

brushed hers back. But beneath her skin I could still feel the other o

two faces felt like th

ant's bang. Three measured raps, and then hi

first light

ay something-thank you, or I am sorry, or I do not know w

n the corridor, shoulders squared like they had been cut with a bla

e knuckles that had gone white on the doorframe. As if he did n

h my apology unsaid, and r

in the steam had hu

why. I refuse

awn, something woke me-voic

a. An hour earlier than pla

to sound curio

en's voice, flat,

ore dawn. Wak

ps move

ring at the ceiling, t

arlier th

in the bathroom, the white knuckles on the doorframe, the retreating line of his

as clearer than a

, I would lea

I would leave fifteen years of Vivienne's shadow. I would leave ever

er he had held down, whatever he was g

finally ope

rst time in fifteen years, t

corridor, Kaelen did n