"Some fights are won with claws. Others are won with blood. And this one—this one might cost me everything."
"Asher—stop. I need a second to think."
"You don’t have a second, Aria," he snapped. "The curse isn’t waiting for you to figure things out."
The room was suffocating with the weight of unspoken things. Books lay open across the war table, their pages filled with prophecies and warnings. Candles flickered against the cold stone walls, casting restless shadows that seemed to listen.
I dragged a hand through my hair, my pulse thundering. "There has to be another way."
"You think I wouldn’t have found it by now?" His voice was rough, stripped raw.
I lifted my gaze. His eyes were burning. Not with anger—no, this was something else. Fear. Frustration. Something deeper, darker.
I ha
