Collateral Kiss
The flame trembled in her hand, her pulse hammering so loud it drowned the silence.
She staggered back, her free hand pressing to her mouth. The words seemed to crawl across the walls, etched into her skull.
They knew.
Someone inside the house — not the Valentis beyond the gates, not whispers from the streets — someone inside had carved this into her world. Someone who moved freely through these walls, who could slip past guards and locks, who wanted her not dead, but condemned.
Emilia’s chest tightened, her breath shuddering.
Bride of the Devil. That was what they called her now. The curse, the coin, the woman who brought knives to their beds.
Bab Populer