Chapter Thirteen
Eva arrived home to an empty house. Her footsteps rang sharply on her tiled hall floor, echoing in the silence. Nobody waited to greet her. Nobody except Rikbeek, that is, and he didn’t count. Being bitten did not qualify as social interaction. Not when the biter was a gwaystrel, anyway.
Even Milyn had the evening off and had gone out. In her current mood, Eva would have welcomed the sight of Tren sitting at her desk, deep in a book, or even Vale ensconced in the rocking chair in the conservatory. A pang of loneliness hit her, sharp and cutting. It’s as I deserve, she couldn’t help thinking. She had brought it on herself.
True, the day she had had didn’t help. She may not be an official member of the Council anymore, but Vale had been right: she’d been summoned to the m
