searching for Stefan.

But now she had him back again, quite safe and clean (he’d had a

long bath while she insisted on scrubbing him gently with all sorts of

brushes and pumice stones, and then a shower, and then a rather

cramped shower with her). His hair was drying into the silky soft dark

shock—a little longer than he usually kept it—that she knew. He hadn’t

had energy for frivolities like keeping his hair short and clean before.

Elena understood that.

And now…there were no guards or kitsune around to spy on them.

There was nothing to keep them from each other. They had been playful

in the shower, splashing each other, Elena always making sure to keep

her feet on the no-slip guard and ready to try to support Stefan’s lanky

weight. But they could not be playful now.

The shower’s spray had been very helpful, too—at concealing the

teardrops that kept flowing down Elena’s cheeks. She could—oh, dear

heaven—count and feel each one of his ribs. He was just bones and skin,

her beautiful Stefan, but his green eyes were alive, sparkling and

dancing in his pale face.

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After they were dressed in nightclothes they simply sat on the bed

for a little while. Sitting together, both breathing—Stefan had got into