to one day, each da

reminder of Lucien's control over her. She was a ghost in his world, floating through the halls like a

silence, she cou

ir that always seemed to carry his presence. In the way his eyes followed her wherever she went, the

on to whatever part of herself she could still claim as her own. But Lucien... he was a force of nature. He grou

hate

dn't want. Yet despite the bitterness that soured her mouth, despite the disgust that crawled under h

ay in bed, her eyes wide with insomnia, staring at the ceiling. Sleep had been elusive, slipping through her fingers like sand.

ci

not said, had not spoken, but in each action he took, each word he said, it was clear there was more to this than s

n the marble floors, the same measured step that had appeared to follow her everywhere. Sh

her bedroom

le

a did not respond. She did not want to. She wanted to ignore him, preten

d, and there was no f

e wanted now. It didn't matter. Whatever it was, she had no choice but to

t filtered in from the hallway. His presence was menacing, dark and forebodi

d, turning on his heel an

house was even quieter at night, the silence stifling and crushing. There

to stretch on forever. Elena had no idea where they were going, but she knew better t

end of a hallway she hadn't explored, a door that was perpetually in the shadows. Lucie

his voice low but with a

ed the threshold, the cold air of the ro

othing like sh

worn spines. The floor was made of wood and was polished, and the soft light of a lone chandelier above gave

or that took up the entire wall. The mirror was old, the glass slightl

eflec

recognized. Her eyes were sunken, her face pinched, as if the very life had been drained from her. She

ence looming over her like a storm

her hands trembling slightly as she placed them on the armrests of the chair. The feeling of being caged, of bein

lack and nearly tender. "This is who you

the abyss, and the abyss was staring back at her. She was no longer the woman who had entered this m

e again," he whispered,

efused to let them fall. She wouldn't give

in the mirror. "You will learn to accept what I've given you," he

ettle on her chest, pushing the air out of her lungs. It was as

t the definitiveness in it caused a shiver to run thr

hite. She couldn't speak. She couldn't move. S7he was a prisoner i

w one thing

was reshaping her into something els