067 | Woke up on the wrong side of the bed

Rhiannon’s POV

I woke up slow and groggy, my mouth gummy, my eyelids practically stuck together. I went to scrub at them and found that my hands were tied together behind my back.

Huh, I thought, a sliver of amusement curling through my chest, this is becoming something of a habit.

The air smelled musty, and from the dim light turning the insides of my eyelids red I figured I was inside somewhere with a window. I couldn’t be outside; I was cold not but sat-out-in-the-snow cold. I knew, from the mate bond, that Stephen was beside me. Thank the goddess for that. I’d found him – but at what cost?

At last I managed to peel my eyelids open. Fuck, what I wouldn’t give for some makeup remover. I blinked, feeling crusty mascara crumble onto my cheekbones, and wrinkled my nose. Disturbingly, that wasn’t the worst thing I felt.

I pressed my dry tongue to the back of my teeth. It stuck to the roof of my mouth and wouldn’t budge. Worse again was the soft, repetitive pounding in my head, the cras