Percival novel · Chapter 24 of 24
Chapter 24: Midwinter Morning
I woke to the smell of lemons.
The room was full of white winter light, and the fire had been built up while I slept.
Percival sat on the edge of the bed in his shirtsleeves, with a tray on his knees.
He was peeling a lemon with the little silver knife from the breakfast things.
"You're awake," he said.
"Don't sound so surprised."
"I have been watching you sleep for an hour. I thought I might be allowed one more."
I stretched.
My whole body ached in a warm, well-used, delicious way, and the bite under my collarbone had closed to a pale gold crescent.
I lifted my wrist from the quilt.
The thread was still gold.
"It's real," I said.
"It is permanent."
He set the tray aside.
"I should tell you what the gold means."
"A wolf's mate who takes the second bite is given the wolf's years."
"I have perhaps a hundred left."
"You will have them too."
I stared at him.
"A hundred years."
"A little over."
"Hugh will outlive us both by two centuries."
"He'll be insufferable."
"He will be unbearable." He laughed.
He fed me a slice of lemon from his fingers.
It was sharp and sweet, and I licked the juice off his thumb, and he watched me do it with his pupils widening.
Then he got a cloth and a bowl of warm water, and he washed me.
He did it slowly, with great care, from my face to my feet.
He washed the ink off my thumb and the gold crescent on my shoulder.
He washed every place his mouth had been, and he dried me with a clean towel.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–6 of Percival are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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