Page 287 of Black Reign

Her face is half buried in my pillow, caramel curls spread across the white sheets in every direction. Sometime during the night she lost my robe beneath the covers and pulled one of my shirts over herself instead.

I don't remember giving it to her.

Which means she got up while I was asleep.

Which means Vesper wandered around my bedroom unsupervised.

That should concern me more than it does.

One bare leg is bent beneath the duvet. Her bandaged wrist rests near her face. The swelling around her lip has gone down, but the faint bruise along her jaw is darker in the gray morning light.

That gets my attention every time.

I have to actively stop myself from thinking about the men downstairs in Blackwell holding.

Three are still refusing to speak.

One started.

Not enough.

Not yet.

Sabine shifts against my pillow.

Her nose wrinkles.

Then another tiny snore.

I almost smile.

Years.

Years imagining Vesper.

I imagined the mouth correctly.

Nothing else.

Not the eyes.

Not the hair.

Certainly not the snoring.

My watch vibrates.

The smile disappears.

FATHER — PRIORITY

Fourth time since five thirty.

I decline it.

He calls again.

Persistent bastard.