h her thin indoor clothes, raising goosebumps on her skin. A wave of dizziness washed over her, an

no plan. Just the desperat

o force her legs to move, a sleek black Be

as shoved open from the inside. A man in an impeccably tailored

with violent convulsions, a strangled g

e felt it. A foul, cloying energy rolling off the man in waves. It was the unmistakable stench o

nfirm the final details of his impending marriage, but the curse that had plague

edles were piercing his organs, sett

the last dregs of the life force she had ju

him, beneath the layers of dark magic. An incredibly

orarily sever the curse's hold on him, she might be able to... borrow a sliver of his

hesitate

of his torment, Aurelio forced his eyes open. He saw a blurry figure,

y drew a small, sharp symbol on his forehead. Then, she pressed her palm flat against his chest,

ritual, creating a temporar

g back the searing pain, encasing the curse in a shell of ice. T

is vitality into herself. It was like a drop of clean water in a po

urelio's breathing evened

arkness at the edge of her vision swallowing everything. With a fina

ith a smear of blood on her lips. The same woman who had just performed a miracle. For years, the wor

be his fiancée. Seraphina Sharp. And yet, she looked nothing like the woman in the

he was terrifyingly light, as if she we

ntley and carefully laid

ed his driver, his voice steady despi

scious woman who had saved him. He didn't know who she r

ot letti

to wake. And then, he