His Mark Of Shame, Her Awakening

hina'

the hollow space where my heart used to be. But beneath the roaring of his accusations, something was st

rld di

ashba

on. The air was alive with the sounds of the celebration-the crackle of the bonfire

at the edge of the clearing, a shy spectator, watching my sister, Celeste. S

world seemed to hold its breath. The sparks were real, a visible shimmer in the

h happiness for her. I raised my

ry, approached me. He held out a different cup, a darker, richer vintage. "A

gesture, and drank it dow

aftertaste of herbs I didn't recognize. I as

e edges, the drumbeat growing louder, more insistent in my blood. A dizzying wave of vertig

ed away from the firelight, my legs feeling clum

on my feverish skin. I remember trying t

g. A black, gaping

in that was not of the body, but of the soul. It was the searing, bruta

ir was thick with a scent that did not belong there-the overwhelming, intoxicating scent of

nd Kieran was lying beside me, equally ba

am, but my thro

r flew open, slammi

hen her eyes found us. The smile froze, shattered, and was replaced by a look of such profound shock

then my mother, then the elders,

ust a deep, bottomless disappointment. The look of a man wat

mall, strangled so

bid animal, his face contorted in a mask of murderous rage,

Flash

, racking cough, my body convulsing

memb

he bitter, h

special brew. I

a powerful aphrodisiac, a mind-altering drug that could confuse the senses and, most impo

predator. I

ran and I. We had

of lightning, illuminating the dark corners o

terated rage, flooded my system. I had

faces around me. I saw Ethan's sneer. My mother's averted,

ation was followed by the

d of a disgraced outcast against the memory of a perf

see it as nothing more than the desper