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He undressed me slowly, without making a ceremony of it. He knelt in front of me and unfastened my jeans, eased my sweater over my head, and unclasped my bra with the same deliberate care he used for everything else that night.

The last time I had been in that spot, I had been crouched on the floor with my arms locked around myself, trying to disappear from people who had already decided I was something to laugh at.

This time, I stayed where I was.

I didn’t cover myself, and I didn’t turn away. I stood beneath the lamplight and let him see me as I was, without trying to make myself smaller or easier to look at.

His gaze moved over me, unhurried and familiar.

“There she is,” he said softly.

Then he checked the waterproof dressings Marion had sealed over my palms and the cuts on my feet before the party, pressing gently around the edges to make sure they were secure. He lifted each of my hands and kissed my knuckles, careful to avoid the healing burns.

After that, he stood, pulled off his shirt, and carried me into the water.

The heat closed around us almost immediately, thick with the smell of salt and stone. I hissed when it reached my injured ankle, but within a few seconds the ache began to loosen. I kept my wrapped palms above the surface, resting them against his shoulders, while the dressings on my feet held.

For the first time in a while, I stopped waiting for something else to happen.

The Pit, the altar, the Glasshouse, the Council, and all those hours of watching and waiting began to lose their hold on me. I rested my forehead against Silas's shoulder and let out a long sound of relief before I could stop it.

He laughed softly into my hair, and I didn't bother being embarrassed.

He carried me farther into the pool until the water reached his chest, then settled me more securely in his arms. My body floated against him, my head resting on his shoulder while the steam gathered around us. I let myself go loose in the water the way I had that other night, before they came, except this time I wasn't alone. My weight didn't feel like something I had to manage or apologize for. The water held me easily, and so did he.

"Better?" he murmured.

"Mm." It was all I had the energy to say.

We stayed there for a while, long enough for my eyes to close and my breathing to slow. Eventually, I became aware of him in a different way. His arms were firm beneath me, one under my back and the other beneath my legs. His chest pressed against my side every time he breathed, and I could feel the steady beat of his heart against my ribs.

Then, little by little, it began to beat faster.

I opened my eyes.

He was looking down at me. His wet hair had fallen over his forehead, and beads of water clung to his lashes. There was something different in his expression now, something unmistakable.

"Wren," he said quietly.

He didn't need to finish the question.

I reached up and pulled his mouth to mine.

The kiss was slow and deep, without any urgency to it. His mouth moved over mine with deliberate patience while I floated in his arms, and I kissed him back until the heat in my body had nothing to do with the water anymore.

After a while, he carried me back toward the edge of the pool, where years of water had worn the black rock smooth. Instead of climbing out, he lifted me onto the broad ledge and settled me there with my legs still in the water.

The stone was warm beneath me. Silas stayed in the pool between my knees, the water high on his chest, and rested his hands on my thighs beneath the surface.

For a moment, he simply looked at me.

"You know what I thought," he said, "the night they did that to you?"

"You weren't here."

"No." His thumbs moved slowly along the insides of my thighs. "But I came down afterward, after Rivera took you upstairs in his shirt. I stood here in the dark and looked at the water where they'd hurt you, and I thought about what I'd do to them." He was quiet for a moment. "Then I thought about what I'd do if I ever got the chance to bring you back here." His hands moved a little higher. "And this was it."

He lowered his head and kissed the inside of my knee.