tte

tear fell. Pippa was beside me, her sobs echoing in the ho

broken pieces of obsidian. Each sharp edge wa

the herb to Dr. Hayes, and together, they carefully lifted Coralie

t that filled the space where my hope used t

lk handkerchief I had been using to polish the tablet. I clutch

clared us mates. Creed, on one knee, swearing to protect me

he was just Creed. He would sit with me in the gardens while I tended my mother's roses, lis

it earlier, when his mother, Lady Beatrice Raymond, first looked at me w

y that the boy I missed was long dead. T

s steady, robotic. "Hel

a sturdy support as I walked away from the place

raits of Wright family heroes. Their painted eyes seemed to follow me, judging this out

pse onto the bed. I went s

ith my ledgers, quills, and inkpots. This was my sanctuary,

tructing her that I wa

began, her eyes

urprised even me. "I just have to do some

and pulled a locked wooden box f

e Pack used for the most binding of contracts. Soaked in a magical solut

. It smelled of ancient prom

my favorite quill. The anger and grief had rec

ild, I had been taught never to pour capital into a f

ter of love or complaint, b

our union. I stated my

on. A brutal ritual that tears the soul of the bond

r of the pain

Annette Allison, reject yo

e parchment. I tied it with a single black silk ribbon and plac

marked. An a

, and for the first time

, Creed Wright. So I will destroy t