Willow.
The bathhouse was carved deep into the far eastern edge of the Institute and tucked away behind a wall of weeping willows and silent stone paths that barely anyone walked. Most recruits didn’t come here as most didn’t have the time or privilege.
But today I made time because needed this more than food and more than sleep and more than the answers Damon refused to give or the ones I didn’t have the courage to ask. I needed to be alone with myself. With the version of me that was still a woman underneath all the bindings and training gear. The version that remembered softness.
Pulling the hood over my head, I took lomg deliberate steps toward the ornate building exhaling slowly as I approached the heavy wooden door. The guards bowed without asking questions. I had made sure to
