The Professor’s Mate: The Moonborn Legacy
Vials followed on a side cart: wolfsbane serum to dull her resistance without killing, silver dust to sprinkle for barriers against interruptions, a lock of her hair stolen weeks ago by a scout, braided with red thread to forge the initial link, which I knotted around the chalice stem, the golden cup engraved with theft sigils.
Frustration mounted, my chest tightening as I tested the chains, yanking them taut, the metal singing under strain, envisioning her struggles amplifying the transfer's potency. I crushed more moonflower in a mortar, the pestle thudding rhythmically, petals yielding their oily nectar that stained my fingers purple, dripping into the chalice where it swirled like living