Page 242 of Bitten & Burned
The creak of the wood as he sat in it.
The low murmur of his voice.
I couldn’t make out what he said, but whatever it was, it had Silas yanking on his chains again.
“Rowena! Rowena! Please come back! Don’t do this. Don’t leave me here with one of your monsters! Rowena!” he called, his voice echoing in the dark.
We had reached the top of the stairs. Dmitri opened the door, and I stepped back into the corridor. He followed, letting it close behind us, muffling Drummond’s cries once and for all.
I took a deep breath, holding it for a moment before releasing, letting my heart beat slowly in my chest. I could feel Quil in the bond. He was steady. Sure. Not panicking at all.
Good.
I had an idea of what he’d do. But nothing definite. I’d seen him dispatch threats. He was quick.Ruthless. Thorough.
I nodded once. Let Silas remember me like this, steady and untouchable, in the moments before the dark took him.
Because that’s all he’d see before Quil struck.
Darkness.
And then, nothing.
I carried on, closing that door forever.
Epilogue
A NEW NORMAL
Kravenspire, Sol, Verdune
18 Kathian, Year 810
Two Months later
The fire crackledin the hearth, and I turned the page in my book.
“Wait…” Quil’s voice in my ear. “I don’t read as fast as you…”.
I sighed good-naturedly, waiting for him to finish. His lips moved against my ear as he read, and I snuggled closer to him in the chair.
“There, now I’m done…” He kissed my temple as I turned the page.
Pain twinged in my hip, nothing like before Silas had been dispatched, but still not as painless as I would wish it to be. I grunted softly.
On bad days, the pain could be pretty terrible. But, on good days, it could be scarce or near non-existent. I wouldn’t know until I got out of bed, usually. Today was a bad day.
But I wasn’t letting it keep me down.
“You alright?” Quil asked, his nose brushing my ear. “Need to shift around?”
“I might need to stretch my legs,” I said softly as I rose, reaching for the cane I thought I’d left by the chair.
But my hand found only air.
“What are you looking for?” Quil asked.
“My cane…” My gaze darted around the room until I spotted it leaning against a chair on the far side. Relief slipped into a whisper. “There you are.”
