Lucien's eyes fluttered open slowly as a groan escaped his lips. His sleep was broken by the relentless sound of rain and wind, the rhythmic clatter against the window echoing through the small space.
He blinked several times before his surroundings began to make sense.
A fireplace crackled a few feet away, its glow painting the wooden walls in shades of amber. Clothes and trousers—his included—hung neatly near the fire to dry.
This wasn't the comfortable manor he was used to. They were inside a small cabin, the kind used by hunters as shelter in the woods.
He was naked beneath a thin blanket, the fabric barely covering his body from the cold.
"Huh? What's happening?" he murmured, pressing a hand to his aching head.
His gaze shifted toward the corner of the room, where Silas and Adrian sat naked, eyes closed, their skin glistening faintly from the heat of the flames.
