Page 86 of The Umbra King

Bellina looked over and snatched the dress. “This is for the balltomorrow. Fancy dresses are harder to get on, so I got you a soft cotton one.”

Rory sighed and reached back into the bags, settling on a pretty blue dress that hung comfortably on her frame.

“Why didn’t they use a potion on your bruises and cuts?” Bellina asked. “Don’t they have potions for sore muscles?”

“I don’t know. I have a pain-relieving potion that helps. They were worried about keeping me alive, and I guess vain potions were the farthest from their minds.”

“I won’t have time today or tomorrow, but in a few days, I’ll ask the pharmacy. We may not have them in Vincula,” Bellina said as she put away the other dresses. “We’re setting up for Asher’s party in half an hour. I’ll come back to get you when we’re done.”

Rory waved as her friend left and made a mental note to speak to Caius about credits when she saw him next. Giving her free rein for whatever she wanted would put a bigger target on her back, and she’d rather not spend the next five-hundred years tumbling down stairs.

She should be more traumatized that someone tried to kill her, but fighting her fair share of men before murdering them desensitized her. All day she stared at the bookcase, waiting for Caius to walk through, but he’d yet to show, and when it opened after Bellina left, she hoped it was him.

But it wasn’t. Lauren and Sam sauntered through the door holding flowers and pizza.

Sam set the vase on her dresser and said, “You need to get better.”

Rory started to flip him off but remembered the last time she did and decided better of it. “I believe the phrase you are looking for is, ‘Get better soon.’”

“No, I said what I meant,” he replied as he stared at the chairs like they personally offended him.

She looked between him and his new enemy. “Did my furniture do something to you?”

Lauren patted him on the shoulder as she set the pizza on a small two-person breakfast table in the corner. “He’s pouting because he can’t sit anywhere with those gaudy wings.”

“Oh,” Rory said, examining his wings. “What do you sit on, then?”

His wings disappeared, and Rory rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn’t imagining things.

“Benches or chairs with a low back,” he replied. “And before you ask, no, it doesn’t hurt to lie on my back, and yes, my bed is huge.”

Rory pressed her lips together to stop from laughing as she lifted the lid to the pizza box and leaned over to smell it. “Never have I been so happy to see food. I’m starving.”

Lauren kicked off her shoes and plopped down on the bed. “I bet. Eat up.”

“Where did your wings go?” Rory asked Sam and shoved a piece of pizza into her mouth.

He grabbed a book from a shelf and sat in one of the plush chairs. “I can shape shift.”

Rory stood staring at him, unsure if he was kidding, but his lack of wings would suggest he told the truth. “Like a shifter? Is this your normal form?” She motioned to his large body. “Or are the wings your normal form?”

His nose was already buried in his book. “I prefer my wings.” That didn’t answer her question.

“Because they make you look horrifying?” Rory joked. Half joked, anyway.

Lauren burst out laughing from the bed and sat up. “More like a giant bird.”

Sam set the book down with a grunt. “You two are not as funny as you think you are.”

The girls looked at each other and busted up laughing. “Thank you for bringing me food.” Rory moved to sit on the bed beside Lauren. “I feel like an inmate.”

“Technically, you are,” Lauren pointed out, and Rory bumped her shoulder, immediately regretting it.

“Ow,” she hissed, rubbing her shoulder.

Sam’s eyes were zeroed in on her shoulder. “Do you have any pain relief potion?”

Rory motioned to the bathroom. “I try not to take it more than necessary. I don’t want to run out too fast.”

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