Asima looked horrified. “That wouldn’t be possible. Bast only interferes to help her own. I wouldn’t dare ask her.“

Well, that solved that. They’d reached the elevator. “Thanks for sharing with me. I’ll probably see you around now and then.” Preferably then. Wait. Cinn had just thought of something. “Dacian said you’d gone to your room to sleep on your nice soft bed.” She resisted the urge to add an extra soft.

Again, Asima’s gaze drifted away. “Yes, well, I found that I was too excited to sleep. So much has happened. Both you and Dacian arrived. There hasn’t been this much excitement in ages.“

Cinn decided against asking for details. She waved good-bye and stepped into the elevator. Thankfully, Asima didn’t follow her.

By the time Cinn reached her room, she was tired enough to believe she really could sleep. No wonder. It was only a few hours until dawn. Cinn put in her earplugs just to make sure she got at least a few hours of uninterrupted rest. And as she drifted off to sleep a short time later, she realized she hadn’t seen her newest protector, Bain, anywhere. Some protector. But she was too tired to care.

Her last hazy impression was of Bain suddenly appearing on her couch. In that halfway state between waking and sleep, she watched him pull out a book and start reading. In the dark. Must be a dream. Dumb dream.

Something wakened Cinn. She didn’t know what it was, but she knew this wasn’t a normal wakening. She pried her eyes open and then quickly closed them against the glare of sunlight beaming through the narrow arrow slits that passed for windows in the castle. Someone had pulled back the damn curtains.

Cinn pulled out her earplugs as she allowed her senses to settle before opening her eyes again. She felt great for the first few seconds, until memories of the night before slapped her silly. She groaned. Blinking, she turned her head away from the sunlight. A quick glance at the clock on her bedside table told her it was afternoon sunlight brightening the room. She must’ve been more tired than she’d thought.

Pounding so loud that even her earplugs wouldn’t have blocked it interrupted her thoughts. That must have been what wakened her. Sliding her feet to the floor, she stood, stretched, and slipped on her robe. Then she shuffled toward the door.

The pounding continued. “Jeez, I’m coming.” She shuffled a little faster. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a piece of notepaper on the coffee table. A note? It hadn’t been there last night. Had it? She couldn’t remember. Caffeine. She needed coffee before she could even remember her name.

Already irritated with the day, she flung open the door just as Edge was getting ready to pound again. “Okay, okay, I’m awake. Now go away.”