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Me: Mara

Me: MARA

She replies in twelve seconds. She’s been waiting for this text since she talked me into the job.

Mara: What? How is it?

Me: The lodge is incredible

Me: The man is TERRIFYING

Mara: He’s not terrifying, he’s just formal

Me: He answered the door in a three-piece suit. On a mountain. In the rain. Who does that?

Mara: That’s just Silas

Me: He told me there are four rooms I’m never allowed to enter

Mara: See that’s more than I expected actually

Me: FOUR ROOMS MARA

I sit on the edge of the bed. The mattress is absurdly comfortable. The sheets smell like lavender and faintly cedar, and underneath, so faint I might be imagining it, that warm thread of leather and whiskey.

Me: And he looked at me weird when he opened the door

Mara: Weird how?

Me: I don’t know. He just. Stopped talking. For a really long time. And his eyes did something

The three dots pulse. Stop. Start. Stop. When Mara’s dots do that, she’s either choosing her words very carefully or she’s having a silent meltdown while Cage watches with no expression.

Mara: What do you mean his eyes did something?

Me: Like they changed color? Just for a second. Maybe I imagined it. Probably the light

Me: Anyway he’s very rude and very tall and he told me if I touch anything on the third floor he’ll “address it personally” which sounds like a THREAT

Me: This is fine. It’s just a job. I can handle one uptight dragon in a suit

Me: He just asked me what my scent is

Me: WHO ASKS THAT

Me: Mara are you there

Me: MARA???

I set the phone down. Mara is probably tied up with Cage right now. I unpack and get ready for bed. The rain is sliding down the windows and the mountains have disappeared into cloud and someone lit the fire in the small hearth before I arrived, which means Silas knew exactly when I was coming and made sure my room would be warm.

I crawl into the luxurious bed and pull the duvet to my chin. Stare at the ceiling.

My skin is warm. That hum in my belly hasn’t faded. If anything, it’s deeper now. My omega is still paying attention, and for the first time in my life I am lying awake because of the way a man smells.

I close my eyes and think about gold eyes and the way he said ginger honey like it meant something.

I sleep terribly.