The hallway to the Ward's wing was lined with ancient portraits of Valerius ancestors, all of them staring down with stony disapproval and perked up lion ears, but I didn't care.
I hummed a light tune, the silk of my crimson gown flowing against the stone floor.
I hadn't even reached my door before two shadows walked out from behind the pillars behind me.
"Lyssa."
Caelum's voice was like a glacier cracking. He stepped into the light, his white hair disheveled for the first time since I'd met him. Behind him, Julian looked like a coiled spring, his golden eyes blown wide with a mix of betrayal and frantic relief. Do those two even mix?
"My, my," I purred, stopping and leaning back against the wall. At this point, instead of looking like a girl in trouble, I looked like a queen bored with her court. "Are the 'cubs' lost? Or did you just miss the way I taste?"
It was probably the latter. Definitely the latter.
