ella

words were a

lian simply stared, the last vestiges of his composure shattering like glass. The handsome, charmin

ies of soft, final clicks. The sound was like the closing of a coffin lid. She looked at Julian, at the boy she had lo

but laced with the iron of absolut

uc

word Damien had s

ery shadows. He was a bull of a man, his presence alone a promise of v

d on his knees towards the bedroom door. "Father! Father, please, I was wrong! I was

aid, the word dripping with contempt, "has disgraced the Moretti name. I do not want to see

ilence was more terr

leanse it. The Moretti bloodlin

t of annihilation. To be erased. For a man like Julian, who cr

pure terror, clawing at Luca's impassive face. Another soldier grabbed the unconscious Clara, slinging her over his shoulder with brutal indifference.

d her lips, and she swayed on her feet. A maid rushed to her side, supporting her as

t. The traitors were gone

loying sweetness of incense. I stood alone in the antechamber, t

e again, softer this

la. Com

llor making the dark intensity of his eyes seem almost supernatural.

d, he fumbled in the bedside drawer and pulled out a heavy, ornate brass ring of keys, the cr

gers closing around mine, trapping th

. "From this day forward, you are the mistress of this hous

my face was only inches from his. I co

red, his voice a dark, possess