LOVE ME LIKE A CURSE
The air turned heavy, pressing down on their lungs until every breath felt stolen.
Seraphine raised the Bloodstone high.
“VAELROS SERAXA..…” she whispered, daring the name.
The torches extinguished. The Orchard above groaned.
The acolytes fell to their knees, clutching their throats as if hands of smoke strangled them. Mira screamed, though no sound carried beyond the chamber.
The Bloodstone cracked.
From its fracture seeped a light neither red nor black but something in-between—something like the color of pain made flesh.