Chapter 78

• I wanted to freeze this moment in time, to lose myself in Hadrian’s embrace and forget the world existed beyond us. Nothing else mattered—only that he was safe and close. His arms wrapped around me firmly, and neither of us showed any desire to let go. He kissed my hair, his fingers tracing soothing patterns along my back.
• Tears blurred my vision as they fell, smearing the bloodstains on his suit jacket. I buried my face against his chest, hoping to hide the evidence of my silent sobs. We might have stayed like that indefinitely, immune to the heavy silence pressing in around us, if it weren’t for Penrose’s deliberate and exaggerated clearing of her throat.
• “Perhaps you two should save this for the castle,” she said, a sly grin spreading across her face as she raised her eyebrows in mock chastisement.