With Daegal’s icy glare fixated on her, Naomi hastily concluded that she truly could not hope to gain his trust easily and have him help her out of the dilemma she was presently caught up in. “Sorcery? What the hell is he talking about?” She wondered as she searched for a suitable answer. Filled with fear at the sheer amount of disgust and disdain that Daegal aimed at her, she choked out the first thing that came to mind; something she imagined Nerina would say. “What sort of accusation is this?” She retorted defensively, bravely pushing her initial fear aside as she angled up her chin defiantly. However, in response, Daegal let out an exasperated growl and in one swift movement, pinned her to the wall beside them with his hand gripping her throat lightly, not wanting to hurt the daughter of the Royal Minister without good reason. “Lolo Nerina, lying to me is not the best call to make right now.” By stalking closer to Naomi’s personal space, his scent overwhelmed her and filled h

San Francisco, California. “Did you cry for help when the woman you loved lay dead before you?” Adryan mocked. With a defiant look, Victoria spat on his face. Enraged, Adryan struck her across her face, his rings tearing into her flesh and leaving a bloody trail behind. “Don’t you dare utter her name,” Victoria said weakly, her head still reeling from the blow. Grabbing her by the chin, he brought her face closer to his and sneered. “Master will decide what to do with you.” With that, he left her bruised and battered body hanging from the ceiling, and stormed out. Ever since Naomi’s death, Victoria had made it her goal to find out who was responsible for it and also get answers to the mystery Naomi had been trying to solve for years. The mystery of her parent’s murder. For the last two months, Victoria had exhausted every resource at her disposal to figure out the truth, yet her efforts seemed futile until a week ago. She had almost fried her brain trying to connect all the

Magic was a concept that Naomi had only heard of in fairy tales and fantasy novels.It was something she dreamed about when she was bored and had nothing better to do.However, ever since her abrupt and still extremely confusing entry into the continent, magic had suddenly become a reality to her.More often than not, that reality turned out to be even deadlier than she had ever anticipated.It fascinated and terrified her simultaneously. Though, most of the time, her terror trumped her fascination by a great margin.What she had unintentionally done with the magic that coursed through the veins of the body that she happened to inhabit horrified her to her core and she could only imagine what harm and danger Nerina had done with it.Nezetta had managed to bring her back from the edge. If she hadn't, Naomi wondered what exactly would have happened had she been lost to the darkness."I'll be back to see you, I promise. I'll find a way to get you out of here. In the meantime, don't do any

It wasn't the cool breeze billowing in from the open windows or the gentle kiss of moonlight that awakened Naomi. Rather, it was the silken voice of Victoria."Naomi, we're going to miss our reservation if you don't get up this minute!"She opened her eyes to see the familiar walls of her apartment. Blinking in confusion, she turned toward the direction of Victoria's voice.'What reservation? I thought...''Was this a dream? Did I imagine everything?'"Where's Nezetta? And Daegal? I'm supposed to..." She trailed off, glancing around in confusion."What are you mumbling about? We're late. Go take a shower, you stink," Victoria scrunched up her nose and giggled playfully.Naomi's eyes landed on the skin of her hands. They were the chocolate brown color she was born with and spent a lot of money on skincare to maintain and not the milky white she had slowly become accustomed to.She wasn't Nerina anymore. There was no continent.'No Nezetta,' She thought mournfully. 'No Daegal either.'S

"I do not like this style. Do it again," Naomi instructed after gazing into the large mirror to inspect the elaborate braids piled on her head."Forgive me, my Lolo!" The buxom maid who had introduced herself as Amani fell to her knees and bowed her head in a bid to avoid the wrath she was sure to visit her."Er... You do not have to kneel before me. Just do a simpler style. Nothing too fancy."Shock registered on Amani's face. Slowly, she rose to her feet. "My Lolo, you are not going to punish me for displeasing you?" Her voice was low and shaky.Naomi rolled her eyes. "Now, why would I punish you for a mistake that is not even your fault?" She turned to face Delia who was busying herself with picking at her fingertips till they bled and studying the patterns on the stone floor. "Why would she think that?"Delia's head snapped up at the question. "Well..." She exchanged a nervous glance with Amani. "You... She... It's simply the way we were trained to serve, my Lolo."Naomi scrunched