Kram

oman, about my age, with a spray of freckles acro

was sent with you from the Kramer estate." My only

om, and her eyes filled with tears. "M

estate, her genuine distress was a small, flickering

I was surprised to find I mean

"Miss, did you hear? I went down to the kitchens to fetch hot water, and the low-ranking guards who just arrived from the

rash that ruined Charly's face, Alpha Darren's public disgust, and

he incubation period of the Ghost Flower extract was mathematically perfect. Without modern antihistamines, that cloy

g through her gossip. "T

want to see him? They say... they say he's terrifyin

ne leaving no room for argumen

y mouth. His mate. A political

ugh the grim, silent halls of the manor. We walked

Medical Academy in Astraea had trained my senses to be sharper than any diagnostic instrument. Even from yards away, my nose picked up the subtle, distinct sweetness of f

air here was thick with the smell of useless medicinal herb

embling. "I can't,

air stinging my nostrils, and p

ale blood. It was a smell I knew well from my past life. The smell of sepsis. The s

n the center of the room. A figure lay there, utterly still. I mov

waiting. A body being left to rot. Demetri Contreras lay still as stone, his face a waxy,

pulled back a corn

untary gasp es

er blades, littered his torso and limbs. The edges of the wounds were black and

was neglect. This was a

old, sharp anger a surgeon feels when se

peeking around the doorframe

pped of all emotion. "Go boil water. As much as you can. And fi

, and my patient was half in th