Elena didn’t sleep that night. How could she, when every breath felt borrowed and every heartbeat sounded like a ticking clock counting down to the moment her life would split into two irreparable paths? The shadows of Dante’s mansion clung to the walls, stretching long and restless as if even they expected something terrible to happen.
Three days.
Three days to decide whether to betray the Crimson Line’s demands or betray Dante.
A thin mist curled outside her window, drifting through the trees as if the night itself was holding its breath. Elena pressed her forehead against the cold glass and closed her eyes. For the first time since the day she was sold into this world of violence, power, and bloodlines, she didn’t know who she was supposed to be.
A prisoner?
A survivor?
A woman ma
