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Chapter 42: "Why Protect Me?"

Author: Mary Sampson
last update publish date: 2026-10-12 20:44:46

I sat down because my knees told me to.

The chair by the window was still warm from where I'd been curled in it all night. Adrian didn't sit. He stayed by the door with his back against the wood, as though he thought I might throw something. I thought about it. There was a candlestick on the mantel. I decided it wasn't worth the effort.

"Why did you do it?" I said.

"Do what?"

"Stand up. In front of all of them." I looked at my hands. They were folded in my lap, and they were perfectly steady, w
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