Page 194 of The Fifth Heir

“No.”

The bedframe brightened.

This time, the colors did not disappear.

They remained separate within the same crystal frame, distinct and bright without pushing any of the others out.

Chapter 25

Talia

The others knew.

The Fifth Wing made certain of it.

I woke with Torren’s arm around my waist and four colors still moving through the crystal bedframe. The curtains had become transparent during the night. Nothing separated us from the shared sleeping chamber except a blanket and the fact that the other three men were pretending not to look.

Rafe pretended badly.

“Good morning,” he said from his bed.

I pulled the blanket higher.

Torren opened one eye. “Don’t.”

“I was greeting Talia.”

“You were waiting for her to wake.”

“That too.”

Sebastian sat on the edge of his bed with an open book in his hands. He had not turned a page since I opened my eyes.

Leander’s blue curtains remained closed.

I disentangled myself from Torren and reached for my robe.

He caught my hand. “Shoulder?”

“Fine.”

“Scale?”

I checked my wrist.

The transparent scale remained visible, but no light moved beneath my skin.

“Fine.”

“Regret?”

Rafe sat up.

I looked directly at Torren.

“No.”

His hand released mine.