MasukAn unexpected gift in its own right.“Fair,” Brenna said. “You sound exhausted. Talk tomorrow about next steps for the Night Veil?”“Sounds good.”We hung up, and I set my phone on the nightstand. I drifted off to sleep thinking of the way Valerius said my name. Like Samantha, he hadn’t known my nam
LaylaOnce I was alone in the nicest room I’d ever been in in my entire life—the bedroom itself was half the size of Grandma’s entire cottage—I considered my options.Ultimately, I wanted to sleep. Pass out. Flop onto the bed into dreamland or complete unconsciousness, I wasn’t picky.But the thing
“It’s been decided,” Valerius cut me off. “You are under my protection, and this is part of it. You’ve had a trying day, and I want to make sure you recover from it correctly.”That almost sounded… sympathetic.I tried not to gawk at the library as we walked through it. All the shelves were fully st
LaylaThe king’s quarters included four bedrooms, four bathrooms, and two sitting rooms. In my previous life, I’d only seen half of it.Part of that had been due to the mess. Two rooms and their en-suite bathrooms were completely blocked off, one by a broken dresser that Valerius had thrown to piece
I hoped I was selling this lie well.Thankfully, Samantha gave a sheepish smile that I knew all too well. “Not many staff members here with long red hair.”“That helps!” I said. “Anyway, I just don’t know anyone here other than…” I glanced at Valerius. He looked entirely displeased. I returned my at
Layla“Layla.”The voice sounded distant and vaguely familiar. A hand gently shook my shoulder, and I bolted upright, eyes flying open.Car. I was inside a car.Valerius. He had woken me up.I blinked my eyes, trying to gather my bearings.“We’ve arrived,” he said. Then he turned away from me to exi







