Vows in the shadow

uldn't decide which was more chilling-his presence, or the fact that eve

he asked, voice bar

. I would've preferred we never met, Miss Duvall.

windows, casting broken fragments of red, violet, and blue across the marble floors. The ch

o you want from

follow the terms. We fake an engagement, tolerate each other's existence

t our families despised each other doesn't m

," Damian replied. "E

e staircase without a glance back

o follow him up that staircase. But something stronger pulled her forward: curiosit

ollow

alls. Paintings watched from the walls-figures with hollow eyes, caugh

g at a heavy door with iron vines twisted into the fr

"You mean-she

that room. Thirteen y

back. "Why would

e letter said. That's w

the doorknob. Cold. Heavy. She turne

ge. A vanity stood before a cracked mirror. On the bed lay a white

vow, break

, the ai

r, Damian

ay shadows-and somewhere far off

Chapt