Page 211 of A Dance of Water

Something held her back, made her not reach out for him.

"I will prove myself," Bastian vowed lowly. "Now listen to your demon and get some sleep. Or"—his eyes fell to hers—"do you need some help to quietyour mind?"

Luella shook her head. She didn’t want him in her head; didn’t want him to mellow her thoughts and force her to sleep with his Mind magic.

"Leave her alone," Az grumbled. "She doesn’t need to be teased right now. She needs to sleep. So be quiet."

Bastian blew out a breath. "Sleep. We’ll wake you when it is time."

"Okay," she whispered.

And she didn’t speak again.

Lying on her side, the time passed, each beat of her heart was sand drifting through an hourglass.

Az’s breaths evened out first, steady behind her, each one forcing his chest closer to her back. Bastian was the next to fall asleep. A strand of his silky black hair rested against his cheek as he lay half on his side, one arm thrown over his head, the other lying between them, palm-up—as if waiting for her.

Her eyes grew heavy, but sleep danced away from her as she traced the shadows in the room. Her ears strained in the dim of night—no rain, but distantly, thunder rumbled. Her eyes found the glass doors of the balcony, obscured slightly by her canopy and the bodies around her. Thick, dark clouds permeated the sky, blotting out the moon.

She found herself eagerly awaiting the spare moments when it was visible—clouds drifting, moving through the sky, revealing hints of its spectacular glow.

And sometime between chasing the shadows of the moon and counting Bastian and Az’s breaths, Luella found herself pulled into sleep.

But not before her tired, burning eyes fell from the sky and saw a black raven perched on the stone railing, watching.

Maybe it was a dream. Maybe she had already fallen into sleep, and her mind conjured up the image of her watcher. Or maybe it was real, and Graves felt so unworthy that he condemned himself to merely watch.

65

GLITTER ON THE FLOOR

LUELLA

Luella awoke with desire pounding between her thighs and the memory of moans being carried across the serene surface of a lake.

Bastian hovered over her, a cold hand cupping her cheek as he roused her. "It’s time," he murmured, voice low and thick with sleep. Strands of mussed, black hair hung messily around his face as he leaned over her. Half-lidded, deep maroon eyes bore into hers—it was too early to be consumed so utterly.

She was so exhausted, each blink burned.

Would it be so bad to just…

Her eyes drifted closed as she burrowed deeper into the pillows and sheets, inhaling heady chocolate and bergamot.

"I don’t think so, pet." Bastian gently tugged away the blankets from her chin and urged her to sit up with strong hands on her shoulders. Her eyes stayed closed, too heavy to lift just yet. "Sleepy thing," he commented, as if to himself, while he soothed over her sleep-rumpled hair. He lightly patted her cheek and pressed his lips to her ear, whispering, "I know you don’t want to bathe alone, and we don’t have time for you and Az to bathe together. Your maids are in the bathing chambers with soap-soaked cloths and will help you dress for the journey."

At the mention of Az’s name, she roused, fingers curling in Bastian’s shirt. She cracked her heavy eyes open, thankfulthat the curtains were drawn and her room was still cast in comforting darkness.

"Okay," she croaked.

"Let’s get you up." Bastian helped her stand, and she couldn’t help but lean into his side heavily, plagued with exhaustion.

Through bleary eyes, she noted the door to the bathing chambers was open, and Osa’s harsh voice filtered from within. Only a few candles were lit, shrouding her room in the pretense of night.

Luella rubbed her eyes. "How long was I asleep?"

Bastian steered her toward the bathing chambers and said, "A couple of hours. It’s nearly dawn. Vale and the others are already at the stables, preparing the horses for our journey. Az just left."

She smiled at Bastian’s use of her name for the demon. She liked it. Liked that they got along.

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