ut a broken, wet rasp. "No... please... don't. Don't hurt t

at him, her face unr

anything-I

"I want nothing from

waited until his hand went still. Then she pressed her heel to the hilt of the blade stil

e velvet curtains, climbing the walls with a hun

nd pulled the old dress over her head. The fabric was coarse, familiar. She walked to the mirror beside the fireplace. The glass was warping from the heat, but she could still see her reflection. S

s vial. The dark liquid inside smelled of bitter almonds. S

r chest like a stone. The flames were closing in no

ould liv

let them use her as currency. She would protect her adoptive parents at al

ling ga

was strange, weightless relief of a woman who ha

kne

deeper t

er of warmth. A gentle voice, dis

.. Miss A

ent, desperate, the breath of a drowning wo

fires of hell t

dered crest of the Beaumont

yes peered down at her, a steaming

n Alistair's ribs, the roar of flames, the poison

here s

ted around the room. This was her bedroom in the Beaumont estate-th

nd mirror lay on its surface. She reached for it

eeks. Not the face of a woman who had endured five years

d smile. "Miss, you're finally awake

had wept. Her adoptive father had stood silent, his jaw tight, knowing he had no legal claim against the noble blood that had come to claim her. And Aurelia-young, overwhelmed, desperate to belong somewhere-had gone. She had left the only home that had ever lov

a dry croak. "What.

ithout hesitation. She nam

before her death. But that wasn

unced her engagement to Alistair Thorne. Sold her off like livestock to secure the

ed straight

g. Her adoptive father's fortune. Her ad

She was not that girl anymore. The fir

t in one swallow-the same way she had drunk the

said, her voice steady. "Then

ut miss, you've

"I need to see her before she make

much time she had to deflect it. And she had to start building her defenses befo