Aria's/Arden’s POVThe chains were ice around my wrists, the metal biting into my skin, a cold, constant hurt. I hung beside Luma, my feet barely touching the stone dais, my leg screaming, a hot throb that beat in time with my heart. I turned my head, the movement slow and painful.Luma’s eyes were open, focused on me. Blood had dried in a dark line from her temple to her jaw, one of her arms hanging at a wrong angle, but her gaze was clear, fierce.“Aria,” she whispered, her voice a rough scrape, like stones grinding together.“I am here,” I said, my own voice sounding small.“Foolish child,” she said, but there was no anger in it, only a deep, sad warmth. “You walked into his trap.”“He had you,” I said, the words simple, the only truth that mattered.A ghost of a smile touched her cracked lips. “So you came. Like your mother. All heart.”Tears burned my eyes, I blinked them back, I would not cry here, not in front of him. “I am sorry. I failed.”“You are breathing,” she said, her v
Last Updated : 2025-12-18 Read more