"You might make me a better man."
"And you might make me a monster."
― Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising
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"I could not see it at the time," I told the Darkling. "I was too blinded by your half-truths and seduction to see clearly. You claimed m...
♥️From now on, I am going to post one chapter every day until the finale so get your reading glasses on because I'm giving you eight chapters in eight days!♥️
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𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕿𝖍𝖎𝖗𝖙𝖞-𝕰𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙
ⒶS I ᗯᗩᒪKEᗪ OᑌT of Baghra's but, there was a wave of pain, a throbbing in my temples, and then a voice in my head: distant, cold, angry.
"Alina, I don't like it very much when you trick me into sleeping so that you can sneak off. I want you back at the Grand Palace. Now."
The connection cut off, and I groaned. Great, I thought. I didn't get any useful answers from Baghra, and now, I have to endure Aleksander's wrath when I get back. Today was not going well...
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ᗩᒪEKSᗩᑎᗪEᖇᗯᗩS ᗯᗩITIᑎG for me at the door when my carriage came to a halt at the gates; his arms were crossed at his chest as he loitered impatiently. I stepped out slowly and sauntered up the stairs leading to the main entrance. Aleksander put his hand on my back and guided me inside silently.
Instead of leading me back to our bedroom like I thought he might, he took me to a dining hall for breakfast. My conversation with Baghra must have taken longer than I thought.
I wasn't sure what unsettled me more, his deadly glare as we sat across the table while eating or how he hadn't said a word the entire time. Finally, when I did not think I could bear it any longer, he said, "I thought we were past this, Alina."
"I'm not your prisoner," I said. "I can leave when I want to."
A muscle in his jaw twitched. "Yes, but it all depends on where you go. You can see why I have trouble trusting you when you leave after insisting I sleep." He narrowed his eyes and lifted his chin, looking down at me from across the table. "Was that not your plan? To get me to sleep so you could go off somewhere I wouldn't approve of?"
I bit my lip and looked down at my hardly-eaten plate of breakfast.
He smiled briefly and said, "well, you are predictable at least. Whenever you sneak off, it is to see my mother, so how was she?"
"As stubborn as ever," I grunted.
He looked back up at me, cocking an eyebrow. He waited for me to say why I paid her a visit. I wouldn't speak. It would make me seem like a fool, sacrificing myself willingly by agreeing to use merȥost and then looking for answers for how to take it back. I did it to save Aleksander, so he wouldn't have to face the consequences alone. He tried to warn me. He said it would be painful. But had I known the price was so costly...
