Leila’s POV
I woke to the scent of incense and blood roses, a muted ache behind my eyes as I blinked into the dim light. The silk curtains draped around my bed let in only a sliver of dawn, softening the shapes of the room into gentle shadows. I lay still for a moment, listening to the faint hum of candles and the beat of my own heart, which thudded like a drum in my chest.
Sebastian’s chamber was larger than any room I’d ever known, expansive, with heavy tapestries of glittering black and silver, and a high ceiling carved to resemble a starry sky. His bed was four-postered, draped in crimson silks, and at the foot of it, a long, low divan snaked along the wall. Everything felt sumptuous and alien, like someone else’s dream in which I had little place. But I had learned to navigate thes
