UNHOLY KISS

the archives, her fingers trembling as she turned the brittle pages. The words inside seemed to crawl under her skin, filling her with a sens

s were gett

lickering shadows of the cathedral, in the way the air grew thick with anticipation. It

echoed through her mind. *The

couldn't deny the pull she felt toward h

ent stone walls was replaced by an oppressive stillness. Isolde sat at her desk, the book open befo

omething that had always been just out of

had always b

, strange happenings, and disappearances that had been written off as superstition

av

blood-soaked past-a dark figure whose very name seemed to linger in the shadows of histo

the edges of the paper torn and yellowed with age.

nly death and despair. Those who crossed him never lived to tell their

s name was never mentioned directly, but the details were unmistakable. A man who could charm and control, who could sway the hearts of ki

ient words, she found something

, his salvation, and his undoing. She died in his arms, and with her death, he was bound

ath caught i

scrolls, but always tied to tragedy, to a curse that stretched across the centuries. She had always been so focused on the p

her, pulling her toward something sh

an she. For their fates are intertwined, bound by blood,

h for her to absorb at once. But they haunted her-haunted her in the silence

d raced, trying to piece together the fragments of history she ha

ose blood had been so precious-had to have bee

wh

ghtning. Her breath caught in her throat as s

. They were ancient sigils, older than the cathedral itself, tied to powerful,

estion, the door to the archives creaked o

ke a storm. His eyes locked onto hers, and for a brief

is voice low and dangerous, th

ear from showing in her eyes, though she tried to hide it be

but it didn't reach his eyes.

ain the dark truths she had uncovered, the terrifying connectio

know that you've been hi

ory in them. "Perhaps," he said, moving toward her. "But it is

ver her like a heavy cloak. "Why me?" she whispered, alm

his presence, yet there was something softer in his gaze now. "Because you ar

o comprehend what he meant. But before she

e echoing in the cold stone room. "And the choice is your

lde was left alone in the dim light, her

the puzzle within reach. But would she be ab

ng louder, and this time, Isolde wa