AFTER THE FALL
“The only thing that scares me… is not being close enough if someone tries to take you.”
Her stomach tightened, both in fear and something warmer, deeper, more dangerous.
“Get dressed,” he murmured. “I’ll be waiting.”
******
The gala was held in the Crestfallen Hotel.
A towering marble fortress lit with white stone columns that stretched into the sky. Snow drifted in slow spirals, settling on the awnings and glowing under the lanterns.
Lucian helped Elara from the car only after scanning the street with a careful, lethal precision.
If anyone had ever looked at her with such wordless protectiveness, she didn’t remember it.