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Sabrine’s mouth twisted into a barely visible frown. “How long do you usually have to swim for?”

“Half an hour, maybe?” She eyed Sabrine as the wolf scooped up their clothes and stuffed them into the beach bag on the bench to keep them all in one place. She looked weary, the skin beneath her angular eyes puffy from lack of rest. “You shouldn’t have come,” Loren said softly. “You should be sleeping.”

“I’m fine,” she insisted. But she yawned.

“You have school tomorrow.”

“Loren, let me tell you something,” Sabrine began. “When Dallas left for Yveswich, I chose not to go, and I regretted it every day.” She pulled her sleek black hair up into a neat bun. “The least I can do is sacrifice a few hours of sleep and go for a swim with you.” She offered her a spare elastic.

Loren took it and threw her hair up. “I’m wondering if you can help me with something,” she whispered, tightening the elastic.

“Oh?” Sabrine asked. “This is about the bargain, isn’t it?” Darn it, sometimes Sabrine was too smart.

Loren nodded and stepped closer. “I want to find out if it can be reversed,” she said. “His bargain.” She gestured to the door—to where she knew Darien was waiting for her. There may not be any hope for her, but…there had to be a way to reverse Darien’s agreement with the spider. “He traded the Widow more years than she asked for,” Loren explained. “There has to be some way to get those years back.”

Sabrine was studying her with empathy. “I’ll see what I can find.”

“Thank you.”

“Ready?”

Loren nodded, and they grabbed their towels off the bench.

Sabrine took her by the hand and led her out of the dressing room, guided by her keen immortal eyesight and the ink flashing on Loren’s forearm.

Darien was right where she’d left him, just like he’d promised. Leaning against the wall by the door, his face stern.

He straightened when they came out, his eyes dipping to their joined hands.

It dawned on her, then—why he looked so bothered by the hand thing. Ever since they’d found each other at the hospital in Yveswich, he’d used every excuse to touch her, even while their relationship threatened to unravel at the seams. Seeing someoneelse holding her hand, even if the gesture was platonic, when he felt like he couldn’t do the same was probably torture for him.

Sabrine seemed to notice, because she literally passed Loren’s hand to Darien.

He took it without hesitation, though he watched her closely, as if waiting for—and expecting—her to reject him. Rip her hand out of his. The minute his warm, callused fingers wrapped around hers, her stomach flipped upside down. And so did her heart, the darn thing still skipping like a stone.

It skipped even harder when he laced his fingers with hers, his eyes—more gray than blue in the moonlight—dragging down her body with the kind of scorching hot appreciation that made her toes curl against the floor.

“I like this color on you,” he said, gesturing to her swimsuit. His low, husky tone had heat rushing to her skin.

“Thanks.”

“I can take your towel,” he offered. She passed it to him, and he tipped his chin toward the pool, spurring her into motion.

Hand in hand, they walked to the steps of the pool. It was drafty in here, the floor so icy beneath her feet that she found herself rising up onto her toes. Even while walking like this, the top of her head didn’t reach Darien’s collarbone. He was menacing—but gods, did she love it. She would never get over this man, would she?

Sabrine jumped off the diving board, the splash of the water clapping through the building.

“You’re still upset with me,” Darien said quietly. He chucked her towel onto a pool chair.

She didn’t deny his accusation, nor did she look at him. She kept her focus on where she was stepping, puddles splashing beneath her feet and Darien’s boots.

They were almost at the stairs when he lightly tugged on her hand, spinning her around so she was facing him completely.Her breath caught in her throat as her gaze collided with his. There was no way to escape him this time, nowhere to hide, but she found that her heart didn’t even want to. It just wantedhim,for better or for worse. But her heart was exactly how she’d wound up in this mess in the first place—a mortal tied to an immortal, both doomed. The most dangerous thing she had ever done was fall in love with Darien Cassel, and she was finally paying for it.

“I meant what I wrote in that card,” Darien began. The strong column of his throat bobbed. “I fucked up.”

“Darien,” she whispered, her voice cracking in the dark. “We don’t have to talk about this right now.”

“I’d like to,” he countered. “I’dreallylike to, because I can’t stand this, sweetheart—knowing you’re upset with me.”