n Wilc

apartment building creaked under my b

wet plaster, a stark contrast to the clean, razor-sharp chill that still lin

partment door an

th the handmade paper streamers and white ri

hanging limp and lifeless

e a second st

tered canvas suitcases out from under the bed, unzi

single item that C

es he had bought for his busine

gs and the velvet jewel

my sturdy boots, my precision brass calipers, my agate burni

raight to the locked metal

rchment sheets-the sacred Latin sigils and protective warding blueprin

f every major contract Chalmers's agenc

nothing more than an empty shell w

center of my heavy trunk, wr

door of the apartment slammed open with a violent

boards, and Chalmers burst into the bedroom do

skew, and he reeked of hospital antiseptic mixed with the c

s eyes landing on the pa

ace instantly vanished, replaced

ng into the room and tossing his car keys onto the de

t look

pulled it over my shoulders, smoothin

rs snapped, his voice rising as

s, letting his ha

she needed someone she trusted to take her to the surgical ward. I did what any decent, honorable gentleman would do for an old family friend.

oll, checked the buckles, and

ry anniversary, every major gallery exhibition, and today, our wedding. Every single time,

flushed an ugl

mechanical endurance! A normal, loving woman would h

against the doorframe with

ue. Who is going to hire an unsponsored restorer without a family name? You don't have a dime of independent capital, and you don't hav

Mind Sanctuary rendering his threats

ase off the bed. "I am leaving. But our wedding isn't being rescheduled.