Chapter 1
The needle slid into my arm, and my fingers jerked.
Kael closed his hand around my wrist.
"Almost done."
His thumb rested over my pulse, warm against my skin. I leaned back against the pillows and watched the clear liquid disappear from the syringe. Rain had been falling all afternoon, streaking the windows in thin silver lines. The lamp beside the bed was the only light in the room.
When he pulled the needle out, he pressed a cotton pad over the puncture.
"Does it hurt?"
"Not much."
My voice came out rough.
Kael dropped the syringe onto a silver tray and handed me a glass of water. I tried to lift it, but my arm sank halfway.
He steadied the bottom of the glass.
"Slowly."
I took two sips. A faint bitterness still clung to my tongue.
"How many more?"
"One more tomorrow."
He set the glass back on the nightstand.
"After that, you'll start getting better."
I looked down at my left side.
The wound beneath the bandages had barely changed in days. At first, there had been a thin crawling itch under my skin, the usual sign that flesh was knitting itself back together.
That had stopped.
I closed my eyes and reached inward.
Nothing.
I called again.
Still nothing.
The place where my wolf should have been felt like a room no one had entered in years.
The door opened.
Seraphine came in carrying another metal tray. She wore a dark gray dress with the sleeves rolled to her elbows, several pieces of clean gauze stacked in one hand.
"How are you feeling today?"
"Tired."
She set the tray down and bent over my bandages.
Kael lifted one hand.
Before he said anything, Seraphine placed the scissors in his palm.
Kael cut away the old gauze.
Seraphine took it from him.
I watched her for a moment.
A strand of blond hair slipped loose near her cheek as she arranged the supplies. Kael pushed the small bottle of clear liquid toward her. She picked it up and checked the level.
"There's enough left for tomorrow."
Kael didn't answer.
Seraphine set the bottle back on the tray.
Kael reached for it.
He tightened the cap, then slipped it into the inside pocket of his coat instead of leaving it with the other supplies.
Seraphine glanced at him.
I reached for my water.
"You're taking that too?"
Kael picked up the glass first and passed it to me.
"We'll need it tomorrow."
I lowered my eyes and drank.
The glass was cold against my fingers. My grip slipped slightly, sending a small wave across the surface.
"Let her sleep as much as she can tonight,"
Seraphine said.
Kael nodded.
"I've been sleeping enough already."
Seraphine looked at me for two seconds.
"Your body needs time."
Kael pulled the blanket higher over me.
"Listen to her."
I said nothing.
Seraphine gathered the used gauze and left.
Kael stayed beside the bed for a while longer.
His phone lit up twice.
The first time, he glanced at the screen and dismissed it.
When it lit up again, he stood and walked toward the window. I couldn't see the name on the screen. He turned the phone facedown in his palm almost immediately.
"I may be back late tonight."
"Pack business?"
"Something I need to deal with."
I nodded.
Kael bent and kissed my forehead.
As his coat brushed near my face, I caught the faint smell of medicine.
The bottle was still inside.
Then he left.
The room went quiet again.
I woke sometime after midnight with pain burning beneath my ribs.
Kael's side of the bed was empty.
The water glass on the nightstand was dry.
I found the lamp switch but left it untouched and pushed myself to my feet with one hand against the wall.
The floor was cold beneath my bare feet.
I stood there for a few seconds until the tightness in my chest eased.
By the time I reached the door, sweat had gathered along my spine.
Only two wall lamps were burning in the hallway.
I had just reached the stairs when I heard voices below.
Seraphine spoke first.
"She's worse today than yesterday."
I stopped.
Kael answered, but I couldn't make out the words.
My hand closed around the banister.
I went down one more step.
"What if she doesn't make it through tonight?"
I heard that clearly.
Silence followed.
Then Kael said,
"She has to."
My fingers tightened around the wood.
Seraphine moved closer. I heard the soft shift of fabric.
"If the timing changes, people will ask questions."
Kael's voice dropped.
"Then it doesn't change."
I didn't move.
My heartbeat struck hard against my ribs.
Something glass touched the table downstairs with a quiet click.
Seraphine spoke again.
"Tomorrow's last dose will finish it."
No one answered.
I stepped back.
My heel brushed the wooden floor.
The sound was small.
The voices below stopped.
I held my breath.
A few seconds later, Kael said something too low for me to hear.
I turned and walked back toward the bedroom.
The door was only a few yards away.
It felt much farther.
By the time I reached the bed, my hands were shaking.
I sat down and pushed my sleeve up slowly.
The puncture from that afternoon was still there.
A pale blue ring circled the tiny mark.
I touched it with one fingertip.
My skin was cold.
On the nightstand sat the painkillers Kael had opened for me earlier, beside the empty glass.
He had taken the needle.
He had taken the bottle too.
Seraphine's words came back to me.
"Tomorrow's last dose will finish it."