Annalise’s POV
I expected steam, warm scented water, and the luxury of silence when I stepped into the bath. That was all I wanted.. steam to ease the ache in my bones, solitude to still the chaos clawing at my head.
My body felt like it belonged to someone else: heavy, clumsy, weighed down by the echoes of screams still lodged in my ears, and the metallic tang of blood still thick in my throat.
Even the air carried his voice with it.. Alaric’s cold, merciless commands from the torture session he had performed earlier.
The Queen had promised me rest. A meal. A bath.. Peace.
Instead, I opened the door and stopped breathing.
Alaric.
Half-swallowed by the mist curling from the steaming bath, he stood with his back to me. Bare-chested. His sword leaned against the wall as though even
