She hesitated for a moment, then entered. Selene glanced over the room before making her way toward the sitting area near the fireplace. The fire from that morning was almost gone, so Damien crouched down, picked up a few logs from the firewood rack, placed them over the embers, and blew across the hot coals until the flames caught.

He watched as the fire spread, starting with the bark and making its way through the logs, and used the time to figure out where to start the conversation.

After a moment, he slowly rose and turned. “I’ve been thinking about what you shared, and I have one question.”

Selene sat in the chair to the right, her hands folded across her lap. “Just one?”

“Yes. You shared that House Ravenwood has been using their gift of dreaming to steal secrets and kill others.” Her face blanched as his bluntness, but he went on. “However, when you had the chance to kill me, you didn’t. Your words were, ‘I couldn’t do it.’”

She raised her chin. “Yes.”

“Then you want nothing to do with House Ravenwood, or your past?”

She wavered, then looked down. “No matter what, I will always be a Ravenwood, and I will always have my past.”

Damien rubbed the back of his neck. “What I mean is, who do you want to be? Do you want to follow in your mother’s footsteps? I’ve received letters from the other houses. They confirmed what you and your father said happened: your mother murdered Lord Rune and his sister and lied about their deaths. Is that the kind of woman you want to become?”

Selene stood to her feet. Her nostrils flared and her hands tightened into two tight fists. “No.”

Damien felt like all the air had left his body. He sagged against the side of the fireplace and rubbed his face. “I hoped you would say that.”

“What?”

He looked over at her. “I had to know. It was eating at me from the inside.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I’ve had two voices warring within me: one said that you were just like your mother. And another that said you were different. What you said the night you woke me and told me I was in danger were not the words of an assassin. They were the words of a woman who wanted to save life, not take it away. But I had to know for sure that is the woman you still want to be.”

Her hands twisted the fabric of her gown. Her dark eyes were wide as she stared back at him. “It is. I want to find out the real reason I was given the gift of dreaming. I believe there is more to it than I was taught, that there is something good in it.”

He let out a huge breath. “Then I want to help you. And I believe you can help me. Help all of the houses.” He could see the war of emotions across her face. He had angered her. Perhaps if he’d had more time, he might have found a better way to couch his words, but he no longer wanted to wait. He needed a partner.