ire

iage navigated through a dense, forebodi

arp angles and towering spires, looking less like a home and more like a slumbering beast of prey waiting to snap its jaws shut. Ligh

moon

barely spared us a glance, their eyes constantly scanning the perim

n a severe black dress. Her gray hair was pulled back into an unforgivingly tig

oking at me not as a bride, but as a sacrificial lamb that wouldn't survive th

y squashing the tremor of fear

ped down from the carriage. My silk slippers had been ruined in the mud ear

vaulted ceilings disappeared into the shadows, the walls were bare, and the air was as silent

But perfect for someone wh

ht into a massive, circular grand hall that looked like the site of ancient

e hall, a man stood befo

His presence was so massive, so overwhelmingly dominant, that it seemed to suck all the oxygen out of

weak aura for years, suddenly stirred with a mixture of p

o be Caide

had to physically fight the urge to turn and ru

d of raw pine, dark earth, and winter frost. It was so pote

only a few feet away. The

features were devastatingly handsome. His hair was as black as a moonless night, cut military-sho

ice right through the fragile tulle of my veil, right through the web of lies I had spun, straight into the deepest,

the base of my spine, setting my blood on fire. My breath caught in my throat. My heart skipped a beat, then began to pound in a new

ed

wave of profound shock, followed by a sickening

suming pull, whatever I had felt for Erich was nothing but a pathetic, artificial spark. Erich wasn't my f

is terrifying, bloodthirsty monst