LOGINI let myself out and stood on the porch for a moment to catch my breath.“You’re leaving already?”I jumped, whirling around to see Nico sitting on a swinging bench off to the side. He was only wearing a sweater, no coat or hat or mittens, his cheeks flushed from the cold. He didn’t seem bothered by
Ellie’s POVStephanie led me through to a sitting room off the front hall and gestured to an armchair by the fire. A tray was already set out on the coffee table between us. I sat, and she poured two cups of steaming tea.“You look frozen,” Stephanie said, sliding a cup across to me. “Drink.”I took
“What do you want?” I snapped.Vivian pulled her head back. Then lifted her wrapped hand. “You are a healer, aren’t you? Or are you going to turn me away?”I sighed, knowing that she was right. Despite our past, it wouldn’t be right of me to turn away a clearly injured person. I’d made a vow when I
Ellie’s POVI’d been up the ridge since first light, so long that my hands had gone stiff and numb in my gloves an hour ago.I told myself I had only come up here, climbing the steep switchbacks that stretched up toward the peak, for the work. The clinic had a small storeroom of medicinal herbs, but
Dominic’s POVI had left Goldenveil a little before midnight and driven straight through the mountain pass. Bad weather slowed us down, snow and black ice coating the winding roads, lengthening our trip by nearly double. Night passed all too slowly, stopping only along the side of the road for a qui
“I knew about her before she ever came up this mountain,” she whispered. “Before Terence did, even. I have ears in places he doesn’t think to look. I tried to deal with it quietly. More than once. It should have been dealt with.” She turned the ring on her finger. “But the little healer has a way of
Dominic POVI come home from practice sore in places I didn’t know could still ache.My shoulders are tight, knuckles scraped, lungs burning like I didn’t quite finish breathing before I left the training ring. Usually that kind of exhaustion helps. Usually it quiets things.Tonight, it doesn’t tou
My heart hammers.“I just wanted you free,” I say, softer than I mean to.Her eyes narrow. “You wanted you free. You wanted to prove your parents don’t control you.”“That’s not true.”“Then what is?”I shouldn’t look at her mouth. I do anyway.“The truth,” I say low, “is you don’t make sense.”Her
This time, I’m not soaked.And no one was hurt.My hand presses to my temple. Thank gods.The applause hasn’t even finished fading when Vivian’s voice cuts through it.“She rigged it!” She points innocently. “I’m sorry! But! She did!”The room stills.I turn just in time to see her step forward, loo
I stop walking and check it.My parents.Right….It was coming up.I stare at the screen for a long moment before answering.Sure, why not. Perfect timing for another train wreck.—Ellie POVA few days have passed and my ankle has strong strong enough to walk on, mostly without a limp.But that did







