Faye's POV
"My lady, the whispers spreading through town..."
"Ignore them, Parker." I waved him off before he could finish. "Let people talk. Their opinions mean nothing to me. The only thing that matters is Hardy recovering."
The three of us gathered in the modest living room of this remote cabin. A dying fire struggled in the stone hearth, barely pushing back the cold that crept through every crack in the timber walls. Outside, I caught the sound of boots on gravel as guards switched their watch, but here inside, silence wrapped around us like a heavy blanket.
I pressed my fingertips against my temples and studied Allen across from me. "Something's wrong. This doesn't make sense. I removed every trace of poison from his system. His body has always healed impossibly fast, better than anyone I've ever seen. But now..." I let the words hang in the air. "He's been unconscious for days."
