Shit! I tore myself out of Vitra’s grip, putting distance between us.
She froze, taking in the scene before fixing her gaze calmly on Vitra. “It’s a little late for a conference, don’t you think?”
My cheeks burned, and I was sure she could read the guilt on my face. This did not feel good.
“Miss Onyx sleepwalked onto the portway,” Vitra said evenly. “She was drenched and shaken, but she’s fine now. She was just leaving.”
I clutched the bandages to my chest, my insides quaking. “Thanks for the help.” I couldn’t meet Mistress Selethis’s eyes because even though I hadn’t done anything, I’d wanted to, and that was bad enough.
I ducked past her, mumbling thanks again, and hurried out into the short hall, feeling like a dirty creeper for the thoughts that had just scrolled through my mind.
“Is it that time already?” Selethis asked him.
“No,” Vitra said. “Not yet, and not her.”
I paused, hand on the doorknob, interest piqued.
“It didn’t look that way,” Selethis countered.
“Drink?”
“Always.”
Glass clinked on glass.
I should go now. I twisted the doorknob and cracked it open, but didn’t step outside straight away.
“What are you playing at, Vitra?” Selethis said. “You know the rules.”
“I don’t play, Constance,youknow that.”
“But just now…” She trailed off. “Did she leave? I didn’t hear the?—”
Fuck. I quickly slipped out the door, closed it softly behind me, and hurried away from his quarters.
I had no idea what Vitra and Selethis’s little exchange meant, but I was certain of one thing.
Vitra was off-limits. I wasnotthat woman.Neverthe other woman, even if those two did have some kind of arrangement. No, this attraction would have to be buried. Deep. And the fact that he could make mefeelcouldn’t matter.
I made it to the end of the corridor before realizing that I had no clue where in the tower I was.
Great. Fucking great.
* * *
I was shiveringby the time I got back to the Unwoven quarters, but the fire in the hearth was nothing but embers. I fed it wood and then sat on the rug to change my bandages, sighing as my body warmed up.
The old bandage was dotted with more blood than before. I carefully peeled it off and threw it into the flames. They ate at it eagerly, flaring purple then blue, and as it turned to ash, a voice spoke from within. “Your offering is accepted.”
What in the Trinity?
The flames settled into their usual hues of red and orange.
“Solaris?”
Silence and the cheery crackle of kindling and wood were my only response. I hadn’t imagined that, right? “Hello?”
The flames danced merrily, innocuously.
