BRIGID'S POV

The night bled into dawn. Shadows retreated from the room as pale blue light filtered through half-drawn curtains. My joints had stiffened from sitting motionless for hours and even when my chomped hand has regenerated, I still felt a dull pain where I had been diced. Across from me, Riona's face remained a marble mask, her eyes fixed on some invisible point beyond my shoulder. The silence hummed between us, thick and suffocating.

My fingers twitched toward the gun hidden beneath ...