Coded MessageThe morning broke, cold and clear. Demetrius was up before the first light hit the canvas. I heard him moving behind the partition, the heavy sound of armor being put on, the sharp clink of metal that made my entire body tense. The Mate Bond was screaming at me now, not with the fire of the night, but with a dull, constant ache. He was suppressing the silver sickness with pure will, making his body rigid and unfeeling.

I watched through the small gap near the floor as his boots ...