Chapter 44: Denise Came Home! Theodora Woke Up

Top floor of the Drunken Immortal Tavern. Candlelight wavered in the hush. Nathaniel Urwin stood before the jade couch, his fingertips trembling. The girl on the bed had skin like fresh snow, washed in a faint golden sheen. Her dark hair spilled across the pillow like a waterfall. He drew a slow breath, placed nine Petals of the Other Shore onto his tongue, and bent down. The petals melted in his mouth, turning into nine crystalline drops that fell, one by one, between Theodora Smut's lips. In...