36
RASHA WOKE WITH a start. She’d been dreaming that a large beast was sitting on her chest. She looked down and saw Jak’s arm stretched over her. They were both still dressed from the night before. The battle was won, and the reign of terror that the beasts had wrought had come to an end. He’d walked her to her room, and then they’d talked of all that went right that day and a few things that had gone wrong.
The sun was high in the sky as she rolled over and out of bed. Jak still slept, his beautiful face turned away from the sun streaming through a crack in the curtains. They weren’t exactly where they were when he’d left, but they were still friends. He hadn’t mentioned his wife, and Rasha hadn’t spoken of her either. It didn’t seem like the right time.
In the room of her childhood—a
