Chapter 53

Alaric shifted Elowyn against him and stared at the ceiling of his bedroom. For the last three days he had laid in his bed and held Elowyn’s naked body against his own. He had left her for only a few minutes at a time—to use the bathroom and check on Mirella—ignoring Seraphine’s offer to lie with her sister for a longer period of time.

As the days passed and Elowyn did not wake, he could feel his certainty that she would heal herself fading. He ignored it grimly, clinging like a man drowning, to the idea that any moment she would wake and smile at him.

The door opened and Rowena, Seraphine and Torren filed in. They stood around his bed, staring down at him, and fear trickled into his belly.

“What?” he asked. “What is it?”

His mother glanced at the others. “Alaric, my sweet boy, it has been three days. Never before has Elowyn taken this long to heal herself. I’m so sorry, my love, but I—we—believe that she is never going to wake up.”

He stared mutely at