Kelle

n was a distant hum now, pushed deep down, buried beneath layers of carefully

voice smooth, practiced. "You

nner... I was thinking the Venetian lamb, with that exquisite truffle risotto. And perhaps that vintage Bordeaux you adore?" He began to ramble, a torrent of business de

certainly didn't notice the growing pile of items I was mentally leaving behind for him to f

ticed grace, meticulously cutting a piece of lamb, though the taste turned to ash

im, faint but undeniably present, like a phantom limb. He wrapped his arm around me, pulling me close, and I stiffened, holding my breath, forcing myself not

that seemed to mock my own fragile, shattered existence. And the perfume, her cloying sweetness, was still there, woven into his very skin, overpowering his own familiar scent. It made my

a deep, bone-weary fat

that rattled my teeth. "Broken toy!" it roared, its voice echoing Ericka' s. "He wants a queen, not a relic! A queen who can give him what you cannot!" It lunged, tearing at my dress, its claws sharp. I screamed, Callan' s

the bed was empty. A faint, sickeningly sweet scent

oice hesitant. "Lord Drake was called away on an u

a hollow ache. "Very well," I replied, my voice flat. "Ensure my stud

recision born of absolute resolve. From the back of my wardrobe, I pulled out an old, worn leather suitcase, the one I' d arrived with five years ago, filled with the naive hope of a yo

cted before him, the worn copies of my favorite books, the f

ks ago, a small, anonymous device. My finger hovered over th

gruff, wary voice an

ispered, my voice t

e stretched ac

said, my voice gaining strength, steeling itsel

le in it. "Finally leaving him, little bird?" A

the word like a li

eclarations of devotion written in the early days, now painful reminders of a love that had died. And my journal, filled with the raw, desperate ent

cating burden I hadn' t realized I was

be distracted, lost in the shimmering illusion

wn Callan had chosen, a shimmering silver creation that made me look like a goddess, like a beaut