550 pages complete - daily updates coming 7/18 The insinuation didn't make her mad. It didn't comfort her. But it did strike a chord. "My instincts are the only reason I'm alive. They're why those children in Sangravah survived." Azriel descended to the grounds of the river house. "Then perhaps you should listen to them." He set her down gently and the moment she opened her mouth to retort, he cut her off. "I told you I would wait. I meant it." His words rendered her dumbfounded. They were the words of a male devoted. A male who knew her far longer than Azriel had. But she didn't reject them, because her tears over his broken body had been the tears of a female who had lost a part of their soul. A female bound to him. "Shall we?" said Azriel, gesturing up at the river house. And Gwyn nodded, for she knew no words. *cover by lowkeystruggling*

"Mother, are you using me to make the shadowsinger jealous?" Lucien asked, trying not to snicker. When he looked back down at Elain he found her face had paled - her lips were pressed in a flat line. The expression of someone who knew they'd slipped up. Lucien rolled his eyes. "Did you believe I was laboring under the illusion you were not pursuing his affections, lady?" Elain's mouth opened and closed and she fumbled their steps briefly before Lucien steered them back on track. "It- How long have you known?" He snorted. "Both of my eyes see just fine." Elain's troubled expression softened into puzzlement. "But you never..." He arched a single brow. "I've never caused a scene? I've never objected to another male pursuing my mate? I've never gone on a bloody rampage snarling about how our lives are woven together by fate itself and as a result I'm entitled to your heart over a brooding, emotionally unstable spymaster? Hm?" Elain bit her lower lip and Lucien was surprised and pleased to realize she was holding back a grin. "Something like that." **Elain and Lucien deal with the repercussions of a one night stand**