“I have an idea,” she said, drawing him back to the present. They’d already arrived at the footbridge, just yards away from the terrace. “I’m going to go inside and grab a few things. Will you wait for me just outside the ballroom? I promise I won’t be long.”

“Certainly.” He would have waited there all night if she’d asked him to. “Can you find your way around the house?”

She nodded confidently, took the lantern he’d set by the door, and gave him a reassuring smile before disappearing into the ballroom.

But watching the darkness devour her made his palms sweat and his hands shake. He needed something to distract himself while she was gone. Something to occupy his mind and keep the demons at bay.

He closed his eyes and pictured Sophie strolling through the garden like a goddess, spreading light and goodness everywhere she went. Twisted, tangled branches bowed before her. Pale, feathery flowers gathered at her feet.

And then he knew exactly what to do.

He had time before Sophie returned.

He just had to make a quick journey across the River Styx.

Sophie found her way back to her bedchamber, opened a chest at the foot of the four-poster, and pulled out two thick quilts. She traipsed down the stairs, glided through the ballroom, and rushed out onto the terrace, slightly breathless.

But Reese wasn’t in the spot where she’d left him.

Her belly twisted and her heart lurched. She shouldn’t have left him alone, not when he was so clearly exhausted and distressed. She dropped the quilts, cupped her hands around her mouth, and was about to call out his name when she spotted him, a few yards away.

He sat on a marble bench at the edge of the terrace, holding a bouquet of silvery, starlike flowers—asphodels.

“What are those for?” she asked.

“You’ll see.” He shot her an enigmatic smile and gestured toward the quilts heaped at her feet. “What are those for?” he echoed.

She scooped up the blankets and gave him a saucy smirk. “Follow me.”

They left the lantern behind and relied solely on the glimmer of the moon and stars as they tramped across the lawn. For Reese’s sake, Sophie wanted to put some distance between them and the house.

Maybe, if the conditions were right, she could coax him to sleep.

She wandered down a hill toward a copse of birch trees and stopped beneath the largest. She turned slowly, assessing the area. A balmy breeze rustled the leaves overhead, and a mattress of soft, fragrant grass tickled the tops of her feet. The house had all but disappeared from view, and nature surrounded them in a comforting cocoon.

“This is perfect,” she said. “Will you help me spread out these quilts?”