37
I’d washed the blood and berries off my hands before I’d even left the men’s floor. Mave had come to take a vial of the dark liquid. I’d tucked the other vial into my pocket as she led me downstairs to a room at the very end of the row on the third floor.
The bed was made and the lantern lit. I’m sure Mave told someone to make the room up for me, but it didn’t seem like it at the time.
With the music still playing and laughter rumbling up from below, it felt as though the house itself were a living creature. And the animal made of stone and wood had created a room for me. A little cave where I could rest huddled in its embrace.
I hadn’t slept in more than a day. I should have been able to topple down onto the clean bed and drift instantly away. But I couldn’t. I scrubbed my face and
