"Honestly, I hope Miss Henson can break this damn curse. It would set every woman in my clan free."
I turned and walked away.
Behind me, Ian's voice chased after me, dripping with disgust.
"Lying, scheming parasite! I can't even stand the sight of you. Get out!"
I quickened my pace to a half-run and made it out of the banquet hall. The moment I stepped through the doors—
Blood—thick and black—surged up her throat and spilled from her lips.
She should have stayed on the mountain, training for a few more years before descending. But three years ago, Ian Delgado had taken her hand the very first time they met, his eyes brimming with sincerity as he poured out his heart to her.
She'd been a girl tasting love for the first time. Every word he said, she believed.
Back then, she'd read his pulse and seen the frailty eating away at his body. The worry consumed her. She knelt before Mentor Alaric for seven days and seven nights, begging for permission to leave the mountain.