Chapter 4

Kellan had dinner waiting in our private rooms.

No council members. No guards. No Lyra.

Only two plates, the candles we used on quiet evenings, and the wine served at our mating ceremony seven years earlier.

"I owe you an apology," he said.

I stopped beside the table.

Kellan rarely apologized before explaining why he had been right. The absence of an excuse made some of the tightness leave my chest.

"I should have spoken to you before inviting Lyra here," he continued. "And I shouldn't have let her sit beside me at the anniversary dinner."

"Or waited until the council meeting to correct it."

"That too."

He pulled out my chair. When I sat, he poured my wine and touched his fingers to the back of my neck.

"No one is replacing you, Erin."

The bond between us warmed. I let myself believe him.

For a while, we ate like ourselves again. We talked about the leaking clinic roof and a council member who had fallen asleep during three meetings in a row. When Kellan imitated the man's snoring, I almost laughed.

Then he put down his fork.

"There's one more thing."

I folded my napkin beside my plate. "What happened?"

"Lyra had another episode after the meeting."

"I'm sorry."

"She could smell us when we went upstairs last night. It brought back memories of her husband."

I waited.

Kellan gathered the empty serving dishes and stacked them between us.

"Mara thinks she needs a few quiet nights before we change anything else," he said. "I thought you could use the west room until she settles."

I looked at him across the plates.

"You want me to sleep in the west room?"

"Just for a few nights. It's warm, and your things can stay where they are."

The practical details seemed to reassure him. No one was taking my clothes from the wardrobe. No one was sleeping on my side of the bed. I would only be walking down another hallway at night.

"Why can't Lyra stay somewhere else?"

"Because she finally slept for four hours this afternoon." Kellan carried the dishes to the sideboard. "If we move her now, we'll be starting over."

"So I move instead."

He paused with a plate in his hand.

"Across the hall, Erin. I'm not sending you out of the house."

"Did Mara tell you I needed to move?"

"No. It was my idea."

He said it calmly, as though that should make it better.

I pushed my chair back and began collecting the glasses. One struck the other with a sharp click.

Kellan took them from me. "You don't have to clean."

"I know."

"Then sit down. We can finish dinner."

I looked at the candles, the wine, and the meal he had arranged before asking me to leave our bed.

"I've finished."

Upstairs, I pulled my overnight bag from the wardrobe.

Kellan followed me into the bedroom. "What are you doing?"

"Packing."

"For the west room?"

"The treatment center."

His breath left him slowly. "That isn't necessary."

I folded two shirts and placed them in the bag. My hands were steady, although part of me kept waiting for him to say he would speak to Lyra again.

Instead, he leaned against the wardrobe.

"You're making this much bigger than it is."

I added clean clothes for the clinic. "I'm finding somewhere to sleep."

"For a request that would have lasted three or four nights."

I zipped the bag.

Kellan stepped aside when I passed, still looking more frustrated than alarmed.

At the bottom of the stairs, I slowed. He followed as far as the landing.

"Get some rest," he said. "You'll come back when you're calmer."

My hand rested on the front door.

He sounded certain enough for both of us.

"Good night, Kellan."

I crossed the courtyard more slowly than I needed to.

Halfway to the treatment-center path, I stopped and adjusted the strap of my bag.

The house stayed quiet behind me.

I started walking again.

The door never opened.