ortrait, the wild look in her eyes, the blood on her face-it was all too much,

lost your mind?" He grabbed her arm, his fingers diggi

t of concern, her hand reaching for Julian's arm. "Jules, don't," she

ted front against her, was the final catalyst. The bloo

an's grasp with a strength s

med to s

ore Bianca could blink, Alicia

AC

an, and absolute. It echoed in the cavernous living room, a so

an to bloom on his stunned face. He was utterly frozen, his mind unable to reconcile the

taking an invol

a wasn't

fire, locking onto Bianca. She lunged, not at her fac

el. Bianca shrieked, a high, pie

t tug, Alicia ripped

oom, the borrowed silk pooling at her feet. She let out a ch

it were contaminated. She looked down at the c

word a perfectly formed shard of ice. "You're

a heap, her feigned shock disso

er his face. He rushed to Bianca's side, yanking off his own robe and wrappi

mixture of fury and something else-a sliver of

, his voice shaking with unres

chilling emptiness in her eyes. And for the first time, a hairline crack appeared in the foundati