est, soaking his shirt with m

uldn't understand, rocking

Elara... It

le in my hair as he str

needed-something I hadn't rea

ed in the frigid air with

esperately trying to restore my circulat

to tell me wh

and he didn't p

ond, an unspoken agreement not to push each ot

to siphon his body heat, while he constantly checked to s

re going to cause a s

and the other under my knees, lift

g to freak out when t

o make a scene about me missing curfew, a

ried me in silence down the path and i

in my bones, and I didn't kno

our house in the distance, its windows c

s kicked it open, and my famil

asked, shooting up from h

ut through the air. "My baby!

can," Silas ordered, carrying

o feel the relief o

ing I registered being the sharp jolt of m

owed confined to bed, battling a bout of pneumonia that

much, and a dark part of me hoped it would serv

my neck with small floral clips. My skin held a lifeless

tly pinching my cheeks to force some color into the

rapidly, fighting back the urge to cry. Breaki

get lucky and no one will find

er red, tear-flooded eyes

r hands on my shoulders before pulling me into a tight hug. She stroked my back lightly. "Stay he

ed, though my voice

the fate that awaited

ers based on their rank. No more, no less, as long as the fee

ur deaths. But those were just words-hollow laws writte

, discarded us, and quickly found replacements-all with the ea

ry detail of the room into my memory. For eighteen years, this ha

in my closet. The one that squeezed my che

quare neckline deliberately cut to reveal the curve of my breasts. I

the curve of my neck, as if I already knew I would never see it unmarred again. I wrap

y familiar creak of the wood, and found my

ul," Silas said,

second I stepped off the last stair. He pulled me to

utter a single w

owing this would be the last time I'

ngly hard t

hildish voic

eyes watched me, wide and frightened. I forced a smile to reassure her. I knel

to miss this

e fell while playing. There would be no more stories by candlelig

oined the hug, wrapping his arms around us, trying to sh

ent of home, swallowing h

of a bell shatte

n was officially o

ll over us like a b

nd, and my father offere

lled the front door open, lett

a split second before ste

dozens of pairs of eyes watched us from

vers and heavy hearts, because every time a girl walked toward the Crimson Auction, it served a

s taking place in hundreds of othe