Kelle

oat. His performance was flawless, a masterclass in deception, designed to maintain the perfect

st an audience

ignored him, my focus fixed on Callan' s retreating back. My enhanced senses guided me, the lingering scent

e dilapidated outskirts of the estate. Eventually, I found myself standing before an old,

er glorious white hair cascading down her back. He was

nnoyed, but there was an underlying tenderness, a note of worry I had never heard him use

pound his chest. "But I missed you, my king! So dreadfully! And you haven't come to me in days. My disguise was a failure, wasn't it? I thought I was so clever!" She pouted.

her sleeve, revealing the angry red mark his grip had left on her forearm. It was a deep, dark bruis

sharp and controlled, darkened with a hunger

dripping with venom. "A true heir. A lineage worthy of you

thin veil of my resolve. Broken toy. The phrase

ou like the perfume? I wore it just for you. Do you want to see what else I

eyes had been replaced by a raw, consuming desire. "You are a cunnin

backwards, into the shack, the broken window offering a grotesque tableau. Their s

ter bile rising in my throat. I stood frozen, my eyes glued to the window, watching his head dip, watch

e pain was a distant echo compared to the agony in my chest. Broken toy. It was true. I wa

e sounds from within the shack grew louder, more urgent, more explicit. I clamped my hands over my ears, desperate to block out the torment, but it was f

shattered ankle. My hair was disheveled, my dress stained with dust

and hoarse. "This is the last time. T

dy, one of Callan' s guards stood waiting, the requested lotus blossom clutched in his hand

ness. His gaze had been unwavering, fixed on me, as he spoke words that had once felt so true, so sacred. "Claire," he had said, his voice trembling with emotion, "you are my reason.

e, listened to my every word, shielded me from every thr

of what once was. But the man who had uttered those vows, the man wh

ime. "Goodbye, Callan," I whispered, my voice barely audible, a soft, mournful farewell

urgent, cut through my thoughts. He stood there, his hair slightly dishevel