Chapter 101 - Aftermath and Uneasy Alliances

Three days had passed since that night at Lord Malachi's estate, yet my hands still trembled when I was alone. I'd scrubbed them raw each night before bed, though no physical blood remained. The memory of the heavy candlestick, the sickening thud as it connected with his skull—these things visited me in dreams.

I sat in the morning room of Duke Thorne's estate, absently stirring my tea as sunlight streamed through the tall windows. The newspapers had been carefully kept from me, but I knew they must be filled with sensational accounts of Lord Malachi's "collection" and mysterious death.

"You've barely touched your breakfast," Alaric's voice broke through my thoughts. He stood in the doorway, concern etched across his features. Even now, in this moment of shared trauma, he was devastatingly handsome.

"I'm not particularly hungry," I admitted.