His Antidote, Her Torment

pire, he was a king, but a rare neurotoxin made him a prisoner. My unique biochem

soned him-an obsessed stalker who had

I always craved, live-streaming a video of o

as his real savior, he announced. Her family had developed a permanent cur

t who spent a year in a hidden lab modifying my own genetic code, turni

still playing, his laughter echoing down th

ne, and made a call to the o

to help me f

pte

st of every month was a

was no d

a room I knew better than my own but could never call my own. The a

is New York City empire, but once a month

as his

c quirk, was the only thing that kept the poison from killing him. The cure wasn' t a pill or an injection

I had done

who had poisoned him and then trapp

ars of my life. A life of being his secret,

o had somehow latched onto him, a parasite he couldn't shake. They whispered about me at parties I was

w the

or, and he was

asn't looking at me. His eyes were fixed on a large

is hand, his thumb ho

ft for you to

tonight, there was a triumphant cruelty in

to life. My breath

a video

e moments, the moments of the "treatment." The images were intimate, vulnerable, and n

g?" I whispered, m

he said, a cruel smirk on his lips. "This is curr

he bidding numbers climbing in the corner. Peop

ed, tears blurring my vi

liberate. He grabbed my chin, forcing me to

, to be a part of my life. You drugged me, Bailey. You did this to me. For fi

voice a low, vicio

nd the video to your disgraced father. Let hi

e words tearing from my throat

. He looked at me like I was something he had scraped off his shoe

mmanded. "You

a silk robe, her long hair cascading over her shoulders. It was C

ing her arms around his neck and kis

turned to stone long ago, sh

ine smile on his face. It was a smi

said, his voice laced with ve

r could. They've developed a permanent cure. A final cure, derived from your own tainted

nd I will make sure you pay for every

d Cassandra left the room, thei

on the wall co

special, magical ability. That was just a story the Hea

I wasn't born w

hidden lab, a year of agonizing experiments, modifying my own genetic co

had loved him sin

th and see my sacrifice. I thought he would

the world, and now a room ful

pped. There was noth

use, my mind numb. I found

was Julian's grandfather, the only ot

t?" His voice was

," I said, the words bar

one? The cure isn't stable

o her. He's free of me." I explained the auction,

e. I heard him sigh, a heavy, weary sound. "I am sor

leave. I want to disappear." I too

yth

to help me f

e Bailey Donalds

I possessed. "I want you to promise me something. Never, ever tell him

ed me. It was the only w