The red marks bloomed across her cheek like brands. My hand didn't shake. My breathing didn't waver. My wolf sat behind my ribs, calm and watchful, and for one crystalline moment I understood what it felt like to stop being afraid.
Then she screamed, clawing her way off the bed. "Seraphina, I'll kill you!"
She shoved me hard. I hit the ground, and a sharp pain shot through my lower abdomen. Dread flooded through me instantly. Cold, immediate, animal dread that had nothing to do with Corvina and everything to do with the life I was carrying. I gritted my teeth and dragged myself up, bracing against the wall to stay on my feet. My wolf whimpered, curling inward, pressing protectively toward the place where the pain bloomed.
She swung at me, her palm connecting with my face. "You hit me? You think I'm someone you can push around? Those three slaps? I'm paying them back double!"
She raised her hand for a second strike, but footsteps echoed in the hallway outside.
Her arm froze mid-swing.
The shift was instantaneous. So fast it would have been impressive if it weren't sickening.