Evelyn's POV
The first thing I felt when I woke was the heaviness.
It pressed against my chest, deep in my bones, the kind of weight that comes after drowning and somehow making it back to the surface. My body throbbed as though I'd been run through with invisible blades. My head pounded. But beneath the ache…. something strange, peace.
The fire that had burned through my veins, the searing pulse from the crescent mark on my arm, was gone. I blinked, disoriented, running my fingers over the mark. It was warm, not burning, but calm, almost serene, as though someone had poured moonlight into my skin. For the first time since I'd borne that cursed mark, it didn't feel like it wanted to eat me alive.
I inhaled sharply. The scent of woodsmoke and something darker, blood and spice, filled the air. My eyes adjusted to the dim light spilling through the curtains, and that was when I realized where I was.
Lucian's room.
