Page 29

“Oh, that’s unfair.”

Even with the remaining fractures, his face is breathtaking.

The kind of face that belongs on the cover of a romance novel.

Preferably one with a very generous content warning.

I lean closer, making one final adjustment along his cheekbone.

“There,” I whisper. “Good as new.”

The lights go out.

I freeze.

“Oh, come on.”

A low hum fills the laboratory.

Not the familiar buzz of fluorescent lighting.

Something deeper.

Something that seems to come from inside the stone itself.

My examination lamp flickers back to life.

And suddenly, the marble beneath my fingertips is warm.

I jerk my hand away.

“Nope.”

The warmth disappears.

I stare at his face.

Then, against every instinct screaming at me to run, I reach out again.

My fingers brush his cheek.

Warm.

Not slightly warm.

Not room temperature.

Warm like human skin.

“Oh, shit.”

I press my palm against his face.

The marble shifts.

I gasp.

Beneath my hand, something moves.