The morning sunlight slipped through a gap in the curtains and landed squarely on Cordelia's face.
She slept soundly.
Her breathing was even, her cheeks faintly flushed.
Beside her, Gavin sported short hair that had turned black again, along with—
Two exceptionally dark circles under his eyes.
Last night, Cordelia had barged into his room with a pillow in her arms, refusing to take no for an answer as she insisted on helping him "replenish his life force."
In the end, he had yielded to her "physical persuasion."
When his glaring white hair faded back to black, Cordelia's gaze suddenly grew hazy.
Without so much as a word, she spread her arms and threw herself at him.
Then—
Gavin hit her with a Stunning Spell, his face utterly expressionless.
After that, he sat cross-legged on the sofa and meditated all night.
He wanted to sleep too.
But he was terrified that if he lay down and Cordelia woke in the middle of the night, things would very likely take a turn that the wizarding world's laws protecting minors could not possibly excuse.
And he did not want to disappoint Mr. Rowle.
The man had trusted him enough to let him take his daughter traveling alone. He should not take advantage of her vulnerability.
After being cleansed by the waters of the Alaya Consciousness, he had indeed become very calm—but that was under normal circumstances.
The delicate fragrance of a freshly bathed girl, combined with the intense agitation caused by an enormous infusion of life force, had spent the entire night relentlessly testing the limits of his self-control.
So he had forced himself to hold out until dawn.
Grrr.
Only when his stomach voiced a faint protest did he realize it was already morning.
"Food first," Gavin said with a sigh.