The Prodigy's Last Dance of Love

ce of cutting-edge smart home technology, every award displayed in a glass case in the grand foyer-

pittance. It was a public execution disguised as a business transaction. The house was filled with people, i

was hidden beneath my shirt. It was a faint, intricate tattoo-like pattern over my heart, the physical manifestation of our seven-life contract. Lately, it had st

a mixture of pity and fear. They knew who held the power now. Guests wh

at her

ooks s

ed her. Can't blame

nstant drain was accelerating. He was pulling more and more from me, his ambition burning hotter than ever as he prepared to launch his new flag

shadows moving inside, heard the low murmur of voices. It was Liam and Chloe. I cou

u sure you have to give her anything, my love? Afte

son, crafted to st

nd I once thought was full of joy, but n

ietly. It' s nothing. Once she' s gone, once her... negativity... is out of the

that he was the sun and I was just

e the sound of that. He' ll be

st, pure and undiluted. My head swam with the injustice of it all. He was promi

ne, truly gone, all of her energy will finally be mine. The last vestiges of

itic connection. He mistook the master-servant contract for a bond of destiny

how right he wa

push me out, to marry another while our contract was still active, was the

me. The contract forced a reaction of pain and despair. I could feel tears welling in my eyes, a physical

ing root. A wild, fierce joy. He was doing it. He was actua

was casting me

just handing me the key