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Then it returns to me. The dark stain. That burning line along my heart.

“What if it’s an aftereffect of my curse I can never truly be free of?”

He kisses my hair, his arms around me tightening as if he could squeeze the corruption from my body. His voice rasps. “There’s a way. There must be.”

My heart aches, my swollen eyes filling with tears once again. I’ve spent the last seven years researching corruption. I’ve communed with Antonia’s grimoire and absorbed all her knowledge on curses. What more could I learn? Where could I possibly find more information?

I turn from these thoughts and press against Lucas. Leaning against him allows me to breathe through these overwhelming emotions. Then my gaze lands on the body, and sweat dampens my silk robe again.

“I have no memory of killing this person. All I recall is waking up alone and finding the body when I went to search for you. The rest is becoming harder and harder to remember.” My voice cracks and I bury my face in my hands. “Lucas.”

He presses his face against my blood-crusted hair, like he doesn’t care how disgusting I am, and it breaks me all over again.

“I think I’m corrupted beyond the point of no return. Soon rot is going to bubble along my skin⁠—”

“Don’t say that.”

Lucas’ tone is harsher than I’m used to, and it pitches my voice high. “I can’t ignore the evidence. I didn’t sense you leaving the shop. I didn’t sense you or this intruder entering either. I didn’t even sense Dimitar when he broke in, and he brought three ghouls and a powerful magician with him to ambush us! He locked Jinx in an iron box and I didn’t realize. Lucas, I barely remember attacking you.” I go weak with the force of my wail. “I’m going to become like Alasdair!”

Lucas doesn’t let me crumble. He turns me in his arms, and the tremble in his strong frame has me dissolving into further hysterics. He rocks me in his embrace again, and his voice cracks. “I won’t let you get like that. I swear, Tor.” Then, firmer, he says, “I love you too damn much to lose you.”

Thundering upon the front door has both of us jumping and staring at it.

“Who could that be? It’s not even dawn yet,” Lucas wonders.

I slump against him. “Ignore it. Whoever it is can come back in the morning.”

Then the hammering on the door is replaced by a pulsing wave that hits me like a strike against my skull. I gasp, knees buckling. A dull blaring alarm reverberates through the foundations to rattle my wards, and I press my hands uselessly against my ringing ears when a voice drills into my skull.

“BY THE ORDER OF THE MAGICAL MAGISTRATE, ASTER ROSEMONT, YOU ARE TO REPORT TO THE OFFICERS AT THE FRONT DOOR OF PERIPETIA SHOP, OR YOU WILL BE DETAINED FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH HAVENPORT LAW.”

My eyes meet Lucas’ then drop to the mutilated body.

Oh, fuck.

CHAPTER 2

ASTORIA

I’m still frozen in place when Lucas says, “Burn it.”

I blink rapidly, shaking my head quickly. “What?”

“The body. Burn it. No body, no crime.”

“Right.” The black flame would ash it quickly enough, leaving not a trace behind. It’s a quick, easy fix to our situation. But there’s no way a dead body and the Magistrate’s officers arriving on my doorstep are coincidental. This entire situation is beginning to reek of a setup, like this intruder was a sacrificial lamb for me to slaughter.

I step out of Lucas’ hold and stretch out my hand, my eyes warming as I summon my magic. My palm chills, black flames swirling in the center. Then something glints from the corner of my eye, snapping my attention to the corpse’s hand. I can barely process the familiarity. There’s… there’s no way.

More power pours into my eyes, lighting the room a shimmering green. With some coaxing, ripples appear along the hand, a sure sign of a concealment spell.

My heart stops when a gold signet ring on the middle finger comes into focus before disappearing, waiting for the next Bauer family member to claim it.

I scream, my flames exploding in my hand like a small bomb, sending more ash dusting down the walls. Strong hands grip me, but I rip from them, falling to my knees and crawling towards the body.

I grab the skinless face and force it towards me, panting. It can’t be. Not Valen. For the love of the Weave, please, not Valen.

The bone structure, the blue irises below the white film of death… They’re so painfully familiar. Lucas tries to calm me, but I shove him away with a strength I didn’t know I possessed. I pat down the body, gripping both slimy hands.