Se connecterI set the glass down on the table before I dropped it or shattered it. My hands were shaking too hard to trust my own motor functions.Bianca was still talking, something about her plans for the future, about alliances and trade agreements and all the things a proper heir should care about. But I co
Liora’s POVI stood frozen, the glass of punch still clutched in my hand so tightly I could feel the glass starting to crunch under my grip, as Bianca walked into the grand hall on my father’s arm.She looked like a queen already. The gown, the tiara, the way she held her head high as she surveyed t
I thought about Mrs. Oakes’ office and the letter with the gold trim and my father’s seal, and all the times I had opened my mouth and closed it again because I was being told to keep it a secret.I thought about Callum on the floor of that root cellar, pulling the rope off my wrists.I opened my mo
Liora’s POVI smelled cheap detergent and something faintly musty underneath the faint trace of fast food somewhere nearby. I blinked my eyes open and found a low, popcorn ceiling hanging above me, a large water stain in one corner.I frowned. The last thing I remembered, I was in a dark room. A cel
Callum’s POVEvery time I blinked, I saw her there. Liora. On the floor of that cellar. On her side. Still in the dress my mother had given her with her wrists behind her back, dirt on her cheek, and her skin as white as snow.It was my fault. All of it.I sat in the back seat with her head in my la
I wasn’t sure how much time passed before I heard the knock.Mia glanced at me. I sat up.The door opened and Callum stepped inside. The first thing I did was look at his face to see where we stood. He looked calmer than when he’d walked away, but not entirely settled. He glanced at Mia and Zane.“C
But even as I thought that, I couldn’t open the door.Finally, the knocking stopped. I figured Bianca had given up; but a few moments later, I received a text that read: “Fine. If you want to be like that, then be like that. But yesterday was really hard for me, and it’s not fair that you’re doing t
“Man, this is disappointing,” Mia sighed as she kicked aside some underbrush. “We’ve already reached the edge, and nothing—”Before she could finish, her foot suddenly slipped on a rock. Her ankle bent at an unnatural ankle as she fell with a cry.“Mia!”Zane jumped down from the tree he’d been clim
Callum’s POVI had been wandering the market street, waiting for Bianca to come out of a nearby shop she’d insisted on stopping in, when I saw her: Liora, brushing past me in a leather jacket I’d never seen her wear, amber hair trailing behind her.And then I saw the brooch. It fell out of her pocke
“What?” I glanced around, then spotted her. Bella. She was standing a ways ahead of us in line, completely by herself. Thankfully, she didn’t seem to see us. “Is this going to be a problem?” I asked.Zane shook his head, although he looked uncertain. “Yes. Well… I think.”“Zane… You said not to worr







