ella
tiseptic, lavender, and the faint, sweet smell of decay. I stood over the four-poster bed whe
ark black dress entered. Sister Agnes, the estate's housekeeper and Elena's shadow. I knew her ki
f warmth. She did not look at me, but at a point somewher
arb, meant to remind me of my place. I w
ll, oilskin pouch containing my grandmother'
not a
her, my voice as quiet and sharp as the needle I was now holding. "This is the first, and the last time, I will correct you. Next time,
e threat, coupled with the sheer au
and tell the Matriarch that her son will be awake within
my victory. But it was a small victory,
Clara, and two stone-faced soldiers. Julian was the one who began
I know it! She's a witch, a
rance with my body. I had locked the inner do
not ente
u little whore!" Julian
scent began to fill the antechamber. "I am in the middle of a delicate procedure. The incense is a catalyst for the a
n ignorance and fear. Elena, her face a wreck of tears
ough his eyes were wide wit
es. Uninterrupted. If, at the end of that hour, Damien is not awake, you can do with me what you will. A bullet, a knife, I will not resist. But if he is..." I let
life. A trial by ordeal. It was an an
ding grandson, then back at me,
ged whisper. She turned to the soldiers.
e dying Don and the ticking clock. My gamble ha
/1/112348/coverbig.jpg?v=8d931d73a32b19016899510ac21fec40&imageMogr2/format/webp)