I stop.
"He could have," I say anyway, smaller. "He chose. He chose."
"Yes."
"For me."
"Yes."
I close my eyes again.
"Kestria."
"Yes."
"He killed someone for me."
"I know, Mel."
"I don't—"
I don't finish.
Vidar.
Tovar.
I have two bodies now.
"Sleep." Kestria runs her fingers through my hair.
"I can't."
"Sleep, Mel."
The cedar.
The furs.
His pillow—
I'm asleep before I know I am.
Chapter 23
Itchy.
Under the skin where I can't scratch—not nerves, not muscle, deeper than that. My ribs are restless. There's a hum behind my breastbone that won't quiet down.
Oh.
Right. Not me.
Eyes still closed, breathing fine. The hum keeps going—steady, underneath mine.
Wolf-thread.
Going to take some getting used to. Someone else's pulse in my chest while I'm trying to wake up.
