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“Careful, Huntress.”

This was bad. This was very bad.

His thumb grazed my breast again, and I all but arched into him.

“You’re doing that on purpose.” My hoarse morning voice cracked.

Wolf’s satisfaction became clear when he pressed himself into me, not even attempting to hide his body’s reaction.

Snap out of it, Huntyr.

“Okay,” I sighed, interrupting whatever was happening between us and shoving myself away from him. “I need to get to the study. Voiler’s probably worried about me after what happened last night.”

He sat up, too, as I crawled over him and off the bed. My body didn’t feel nearly as sore as I thought it would, though after Wolf healed me, my wounds were hardly noticeable.

“We should talk about what happened.” His voice was soft and tired.

“No, we shouldn’t. I lost control, and it won’t happen again.”

I didn’t give him any more time to argue. I finished getting dressed in the only clothes I had that were not ripped to shreds, slipped my boots on, and walked out the door.

Voiler and Ashlani were already seated at our table in the study before I arrived.

I half-expected Voiler to tell Ashlani what she saw in the courtyard yesterday, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary as I walked up to the table and settled in.

“Can you believe it?” Ashlani whispered to Voiler. “He’s like an entirely different person now.”

“Who?” I interrupted.

“Lanson. I’ve never seen him so angry. He can’t even talk to me without biting my head off.”

“Everyone wears a mask. His was just better at fooling us.”

“Wow,” Ashlani said, leaning in. “That was deep, Hunt.”

Hunt.Rummy was the only one who’d ever called me that.

I missed her. My chest ached for home, for returning to the hell that was Midgrave. One day, I would return to her. One day, I would make it back. I would return to my life of protecting her and the people of that city with everything I had.

My eyes slid to Voiler, who already stared at me with soft eyes and an understanding smile.

“Come on,” Ashlani said to her. “Let’s go find some more books to stuff our faces into.”

Ashlani and Voiler both stood from the chairs, but Voiler hung back while Ashlani disappeared into the rows and rows of books behind us.

“You okay?” she whispered, loud enough for only me to hear.

“Yeah,” I replied with a soft nod. “I’m fine now.”

And that was that. Voiler understood. I could see it in her eyes. She was like me, with secrets and darkness. But I knew she wouldn’t tell anyone what she saw last night.

She disappeared behind Ashlani, leaving me alone at the table.

Though my solitude didn’t last long.

A few seconds later, the door to the study swung open. Lanson sauntered through with his shoulders rolled back, his chin lifted.

I pushed myself from my chair and stood, either ready to follow the others into the rows of books, or to fight Lanson if he dared approach me.