Page 160 of Ruthless Knot

And despite everything—despite the poison in my veins and the grief in my chest and the exhaustion that goes deeper than bone?—

I smile.

Just a little.

Just enough.

Yes, Mommy.

I'm gonna do exactly that.

The memory fades, and I’m back in the floating oasis, asleep once more.

CHAPTER 16

Enemies And Alliances

~SERAPHINE~

Consciousness returns in fragments.

First: warmth.

An unfamiliar, luxurious warmth that wraps around my body like a cocoon, pressing against my skin through what feels like the softest fabric I've ever touched. It's heavy but not suffocating—layered blankets, I realize distantly. Multiple layers of something expensive, something that doesn't belong in the bare-minimum existence of Ruthless Academy.

Second: scent.

Multiple scents, actually—a symphony of them layered over each other like musical notes. Vanilla sugar and soft smoke, which I recognize immediately asSage. Cold rain and eucalyptus—unfamiliar but somehow comforting. Ember smoke and cinnamon—the fire-touched aroma that makes something in my chest flutter. And underneath it all, woven through the fabric and the air and every surface I can sense...

Spiced leather.

Dark rum.

Kai.

Third: confusion.

My eyes flutter open, and I immediately squint against light that's too bright, too natural, toowrongfor the perpetual grey of Ruthless Academy's residential sector.

Where the fuck am I?

The ceiling above me is vaulted.

Vaulted.

Not the flat, water-stained industrial panels I've been staring at for three years. This ceiling has actualarchitecture—exposed wooden beams in a dark cherry stain, arching gracefully toward a central point where an ornate light fixture hangs like a captured constellation.

I push myself up onto my elbows, and the movement makes my head swim.

One-two-three-four. One-two-three-four.

The counting helps stabilize me, grounding me in the present even as my brain struggles to piece together how I got here.

The bed is massive.

King-sized, easily—maybe bigger. The frame is dark wood that matches the ceiling beams, carved with intricate patterns I don't have the energy to examine closely. The blankets covering me are a deep burgundy, layered with cream-colored sheets and what appears to be actualsilkpillowcases.

This is luxury.