Chapter 26

At once, she was uncomfortable and stiff. She could smell his cologne, and though it was expensive, it made her feel slightly nauseated. It was strange, she had always rather liked his cologne, yet now she thought only of the way Alexander smelled—his musky, male scent. Was that part of the ritual, the binding? Did it make it impossible for her to touch another man? Was that the secret the men of their race held over the women? She shoved an impatient hand through her hair and found her fingers were trembling. Maybe there was a way to undo what the ritual words had wrought. After all, she had done the impossible: she had found a way to walk among humans in the noonday sun. Alexander might have reversed her accomplishment, but that didn’t negate the fact that she had done what no other supernatural ever had.

“I’m not doing anything, Bert. I don’t know what to do, so I’m not doing a single thing. I’m not asking you to put your life on hold or to wait. I’ve always told you to find a swee