MEL
I couldn’t sleep. There had been nights where I ached for Liam since my birthday, but it had never been so intense. Not even my heat had me so torn apart. If his acknowledgment had amplified things so severely, there was a good chance that the next round of heat would cripple me.
I pretended to be asleep when Dad and Papa got home. Papa came to check on me, and I faced away from the door with my blanket pulled over me. When I knew they were both asleep, I snuck down the hall to my art room. When I picked up my brush, the lamp’s soft light caught on the bracelet. I ended up just staring at the bracelet on my wrist and never dipping my brush into the paint.
I slinked downstairs with a headache when it became a reasonable time for breakfast the next day. Papa was already up, making s
