Sable reached up and brushed his thumb along the welt on Liv’s cheek. His touch lingered, his fingers sliding down her neck, the gesture slow and sensual. “This will be a perfect shade of purple by then.” He slipped his arm around Liv’s waist. “I’d punish Loran, but you’ve done it for me.”

Liv’s focus hadn’t left Roar. “You didn’t need to come here,” she said, but her meaning was clear: She didn’t want him there. Liv wanted to marry Sable.

Rage coursed through Aria. She bit the inside of her lip and tasted blood. Roar had turned to stone beside her. She needed to get him out of there. “Is there someplace we can rest? It was a long trip.”

Liv blinked, noticing her for the first time. She looked from Aria to Roar, her breathing focused. “Who are you?”

“Excuse my manners,” Sable said. “I thought you knew each other. Liv, this is Aria.” He motioned one of his men over. “Show them to the guest rooms by my quarters,” he said. Then he smiled broadly. “I’ll have supper arranged for the four of us later. Tonight we’ll celebrate.”

Aria’s room was cold and spare: a simple cot and a chair with a curling backrest made of stag horns. The only light came through a dingy beveled-glass window recessed deep in the stone wall.

Roar was given the room adjacent to hers, but he followed her inside. Aria pulled the door shut and wrapped her arms around him. His muscles were tense, trembling.

“I don’t understand. Liv let him touch her.”

She winced at the pain in his voice. “I know. I’m sorry.”

She had no better words to give him. She remembered the conversation they’d had days after leaving the Tides. She’d still felt the poison inside her, and she’d been in knots about leaving Perry. Roar had spoken to her of truth. He’d lost a truth today, just as she had months ago when she’d learned she was half Outsider. Her life had rested on a pillar that had suddenly vanished, and she still hadn’t found her balance. Nothing she said would help him, so she stood with him and held him until he was ready to stand on his own again.

When he drew away, the anger in his brown eyes chilled her. She grasped his hand. Roar, don’t do anything to Sable. He’s expecting it. Don’t give him a reason to hurt you.

He didn’t answer her. For once she wished she could hear his thoughts.

He shook his head. “No. You don’t.” He moved away, sitting against the door.

She sat on the bed and looked around the small room. She didn’t know what to do. For the past two weeks, she’d raced to get here. Now that she was here, she felt trapped.