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“You won’t be.”
He took her back to bed, drew her against him. Because she still trembled, because he could, he passed his hand over her head. And sent her gently into slumber.
Chapter 10
She woke with sunlight sliding over her face, and she woke alone.
He’d snuffed the candles out, but left the fire burning low. Kind of him, she thought as she sat up, drawing the blanket over her shoulders. He’d been very kind and very gentle, and had given her exactly the comfort and security she’d needed.
Still, the wave of embarrassment came first. She’d run to him like a hysterical child fleeing from the monster in the closet. Sobbing, shaking and incoherent. She hadn’t been able to handle it, and had looked for someone—for him—to save her. She prided herself on her courage and her wits, and she hadn’t been able to stand up to her first showdown with Lilith.
No spine, she thought in disgust, and no real magic. Fear and temptation had smothered them. No, worse, she thought, fear and temptation had frozen them inside her, deep, where she hadn’t been able to reach. Now, in the light of day, she could see how foolish she’d been, how stupid, how easy. She’d done nothing to protect herself before, during or after. She’d run through the caves, through the woods, on the cliffs because they’d wanted her to run, and she’d let terror block out everything but the desperate need to escape.
It wasn’t a mistake she’d make again.
She wasn’t going to sit here wallowing either, not over something that was done.
She got up, wrapped herself in the blanket, then peeked out into the corridor. She saw no one, heard nothing, and was grateful. She didn’t want to talk to anyone until she’d put herself back together.
She showered, dressed, then took a great deal of care with her makeup. She hung amber drops at her ears for strength. And when she made the bed, she put amethyst and rosemary under her pillow. After choosing a candle from her supplies, she set it beside the bed. When she prepared for sleep that night, she would consecrate the candle with oil to repel Lilith and those like her from her dreams.
She would also make a stake, and get a sword from the weapons supply. She wouldn’t be defenseless and open again.
Before she left the room she took a long look at herself in the mirror. She looked alert, she decided, and capable.
She would be strong.
Because she considered it the heart of any home, she went to the kitchen first. Someone had made coffee, and by process of elimination, she figured it had been King. There was evidence someone had eaten. She could smell bacon. But there was no one around, and no dishes in the sink.
It was some small comfort to know whoever had eaten—or at least whoever had cooked—had also tidied up. She didn’t like to live in disorder, but neither would she care to be in charge of all things domestic.
She poured herself a cup from the pot, toyed with making some breakfast. But there was enough of the dream left in her that the sensation of being alone in the house was uncomfortable.
Her next choice was the library, which she thought of as the main artery of the heart. And there, with some relief, she found Moira.
Moira sat on the floor in front of the fire, surrounded by books. Even now she was hunched over one like a student cramming for an exam. She wore a tunic the color of oatmeal with brown pants and her riding boots.
She looked up as Glenna entered, offered a shy smile. “Good morning to you.”
“Good morning. Studying?”
“I am.” The shyness faded so those gray eyes shined. “This is the most marvelous room, isn’t it? We have a great library in the castle at home, but this rivals it.”
Glenna crouched, tapped a finger on a book thick as a beam. Carved into its scrolled leather cover was a single word.
VAMPYRE.
“Boning up?” she asked. “Studying the enemy?”
“It’s wise to know all you can about whatever you can. Not all the books I’ve read so far agree on all things, but there are some elements on which they do.”
“You could ask Cian. I imagine he could tell you whatever you wanted to know.”
“I like to read.”
Glenna only nodded. “Where did you get the clothes?”
“Oh. I went out this morning, early, found my pack.”
