pulse through the silver collar and straight into Elara's bone marrow. Each chime felt like a lash

two minu

rds and find whatever secret was hidden there. But then she pictured Julian's face-the way his eyes turned to shards of ice when he was den

note into the waistband of her crims

light, making the distance between her room and Julian's study feel like miles. She ran, her bare feet sile

minu

t like it was heating up, a phantom sensation born of her own panic. She reached the heav

t afford to. She pushed the d

ks, their gold-leaf spines gleaming like teeth in the dark. Julian was sitting behind a massive desk of petrifie

murmured. His voice was a low, dangerous

dress shirt was unbuttoned at the collar, the sleeves rolled up to reveal forearms corded with muscle and duste

ling feet, and finally settling on the crimson lace that barely covered her curves

re," he

rt hammering against her ribs. "I'

ose

desk. The scent of him-sandalwood, expensive tobacco, and

round the desk, stopping so close that she had to tilt her head back to look at him. He reached ou

silk. "Lesson two is about focus. In this house, there is only one sun,

hting against the magnetic pull of his

brushing over her lower lip. "You spent your whole life looking at your father for approval. You looke

tinct she had told her to run, but her body felt rooted to the floor. The intensity of his ga

his eyes locked on hers

she breathed, her vo

es. He didn't pull away. Instead, he moved his hand to the back of her head, his fi

re the fire. It will be so much more

rifyingly clinical gaze. "You think you can hate me and survive. But hate is just

orrow. A woman named Isabella Rossi. She is the daughter of my father's

ng in her chest. Isabella. The

to remind you of what you used to be. Your job is to show her exactly what you are now.

pped. "I won't let you hum

are told, or I will send the bailiffs back to your father's hiding spot i

r was a coward, but he was all the family she had

ispered, her voice breaking. "What d

hing raw and wounded-before the ice slammed back into place. He walked back to her

spent fifty million dollars because I hate you? You have no idea what you've cost me, E

l thing, a wire stretched to the breaking point. Elara's breath hitched. For a momen

hearth hissed and died, pl

. Prepare yourself. Isabella arrives at noon. If you fail

ght burst. She didn't stop until she was back in her bedroom, t

oisoned. She stood in front of the full-length mirror, staring at her reflecti

rty o

waistband and pulled

third floorboar

uld find whatever "M" had hidden, maybe she could find a way to break Julian's

mirror, she realized something that t

een on her lips and his hands had been on h

ictim in a way that had nothing to do with mone

n. She looked at the clock. It was 3:00 AM. The house was silent, sav

ella arrived. Nine hours to f

solve. She wouldn't be the perfect pet. She wouldn

to find the ke

y. The estate felt different at night-the shadows seemed to move, th

ry doors were even larger than the ones in the study, carved with intri

dar overwhelming. She moved to the center of the room, counting

two..

minutes of frantic clawing before her nail caught on a small, recessed lat

compartment was a leather-bound

pened the journal to the first page. The handwrit

done it. He has finally brought you home. But you must understand the truth, Ela

footstep echoed fro

of a flashlight swept a

ed out. It wasn't Julian. I

crambled behind a tall bookshelf. She held her breath, h

the flashlight danced over the rows of

something," th

o her row, a loud crash echoed from the foy

and ran back t

et flying over the carpet. She reached her room and lo

ith entries about a "blood debt," an ancient agreement between the Vance

t entry that made

that I saw him in the garden that night ten years ago.

ire that had ki

it had turned into a snake. Juli

s the thought, the inte

ained. "Change of plans. Isabella is here early. And

on the floor, then at the

It wasn't about survival an

e crimson lace. As she fastened the silver collar around her neck, her eyes we

of the room, he

pet? Fine. She would give

uld burn his wor