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Chloe giggles. “Holy shit.”

Turning to the family, I wrap my arm around Alena and pull her to my side. “We’re going to go rest. Please get more women for the pantry. And I need ghouls to clean up the man downstairs.”

“Why women?” Caden asks before he gets roughly elbowed by Maddox. “What? I seriously want to know.”

Asher chuckles. “Would you want your woman getting another dude’s jizz all over her?”

“Oh.” Caden nods at me in understanding. “Bring back more women than men. Got it.”

“Where’s Matthias?” I ask Asher.

“He’s out hunting the hunter,” Asher says. “He’s got a thing for killing those fucks, you know.”

Turning Alena and me toward the main room, I call out to the group behind me, “We’ll just grab one of the empty rooms on this floor.”

FOURTEEN

ALENA

Awareness slowly creeps into my sleepy brain. Awareness of my own my limbs and all their connecting pieces.

Awareness of a warm, comfortable body beneath me.

Slowly, I open my eyes and see Raphael sleeping peacefully beneath the weight of my body. With one of his arms draped over me, he seems to be using me as some kind of blanket.

My eyes study his face as if seeing him for the first time.

Something has changed.

And I’m not talking about the small smile curving on his mouth.

Everything looksdifferent. Like my vision has somehow sharpened and enhanced.

Little details I’ve never noticed before are now impossible to miss.

Every black strand of hair on his head. Each long, dark lash that fans against his pale skin. How his skin is utterly smooth and utterly flawless. Without the help of makeup, not a pore can be seen. The lack of little lines and creases, even on his lips…

Finding myself becoming utterly entranced by his beauty, those sharp cheekbones, the cut of his jaw, and the perfect lineof his nose, I sense I could stare at him for eternity and never get bored.

Tearing my gaze away from his face, I study the pillow beneath his head.

I can see every little thread that is woven together to create the pillowcase.

What the…

Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath.

Myfirstbreath.

I haven’t been breathing this entire time. How is that possible?

Panic begins to seep into my bones, and I expect to feel my heart racing at any second, but it does nothing.

Raphael shifts a little and his arm tightens around me.

My eyes fly open.

His smile is turning into a frown.