Chapter 51. Second Chance

Caleb’s POV

Night sits in the shadows like a wolf on its haunches, resting, not sleeping.

The river has gone back to pretending it’s a river. You wouldn’t know a lirael smiled at us an hour ago unless you were here to hear how the wards hum a little lower now, satisfied the way a blade is satisfied after it’s been honed.

Patrols rotate in clean pairs. Witches stitch silver lines that disappear unless you stare wrong, preparing for what’s to come in the morning. Vampires ghost the treeline and make the dark behave.

Selena is rasping. Not dramatically, she’s doing that quiet-brave thing she does when she thinks no one’s looking, rolling her voice around like a marble and checking the edges of her throat. Skysong purrs under her skin; I can feel it where our bond sits warm between us. Si is the cool hand to her heat. They’re both smug. They should be. My mate sang a river still today.

“Open,” I tell her, and tuck a honey lozenge between her lips.