The heavy oak doors clicked shut, locking out the humiliation of Delegate Vane’s departure and leaving Elder Vance and Tanya standing in an empty, echoing hall.
Upstairs, in the private chambers, the heavy air of the grand hall dissolved into a tense, suffocating quiet. Ace set Rose down on the edge of the velvet settee, but he didn't step back. His massive frame hovered over her, his golden eyes burning with a volatile mix of leftover battle fury and raw, unadulterated terror.
He reached out, his large hands peeling back the fabric of his jacket where her palm had been pressed.
The skin was entirely smooth. Not a single scar, not a trace of a silver burn remained. Her hybrid metabolism had worked too fast, erasing the evidence before Vane could blink. But the absence of the wound didn'
