pte

dire

a's

ds, my breath catching in my throat. The

voice barely a sound in

tomorrow for the birthday ceremony-her birthday, and mine. H

stomach sank. I hadn't locked

" I br

be Mira. She'd been eyeing the dress earlier, dripping evil wi

ieve a servant Omega over her. C

se pounded so hard I could feel it in

ruin the ceremony or Lyra

a miracle. By some stroke of luck, there was a

ly, stitching along the tear. It

t full of snakes, you learn

lead. I collapsed onto the bed, with my belly

ndow. The day went by in a blur with me scrubbing floors,

onight, and every inch of t

ed thicker somehow, charged with the hum of

ged my hips in a way that made my throat tighten. I didn

band then stepped out of my tiny room. The hal

r the dress, her glare sharp enough to send daggers at me. S

slightly into the plush velvet

glasses clinking, murmurs of conversation und

been among the servers, moving qui

, in a dress that shi

d, suddenly I heard

a! R

rds me. The way she moved was so elegant and

her skin perfectly and her hair was styled s

so good! You wore the d

ce that I had stitched the dress.

l. This dress is so n

more. "Cassian got it fo

uple of the town for years, and today being her 20th birthday, the

more than anything

"Come, let's get some drinks or som

already pulling me by the wrist

No alcohol," Lyra tol

quickly, turnin

hot through my chest. My wo

struggled to conceal the hea

gging pain in my chest wasn't from

Three differ

athing turned shallow.

mumbled ag

lding the two drinks.

g around me, wrapping into my chest, making my hear

d stronger. It felt like my he

ont of me and it lande

Dorian and to my

was coming from a

h

te bond didn't work this way. It had to be some kind of

he three of them spo

at

lammed into me, s

g lay shattered on the floor, red liquid pooling across the tiles. But

re locked not on

ping as whispers rippled lik

a's gaze sh

oice tight and almost tre