But I didn’t care.
I was so close to finishing what I started.
This wasn’t the poison crafted to end Salvatore—no.That was already hidden, waiting for its moment.This...this was something else—a failsafe.A final weapon only I understood.A creation meant to bend darkness back on itself—if it worked.
I knew the risk.I knew the cost.
And still...I couldn’t stop.
Then—
A strangled gasp behind me.
I froze.
The ladle slipped from my fingers, clattering against the iron rim.My heart slammed against my ribs as I turned, dread crawling up my spine like ice.
Amir stood in the doorway.
And everything shattered.
“Elizabeth.”
His voice cleaved through the thick air, cutting straight to the bone.My blood turned to ice.
The flickering firelight from the cauldron danced across his face.His shadow stretched long across the floor, and in his eyes—shock, fury...betrayal.
He wasn’t supposed to be here.
He was supposed to be training with Reyna.I timed everything perfectly—except this.
“You claimed you needed air,” he said, stepping closer, his gaze a blade.“But this reeks of secrets—not fresh air.”
He stepped forward, and I instinctively stepped back, clutching the ladle tightly as if it could shield me.
“You weren’t supposed to see this,” I whispered.“You were with Reyna...Amir, please?—”
“How long?”he cut in, his voice like steel, eyes locked on the cauldron.“How long have you been doing this?”
His gaze swept across the mess of alchemical tools—powdered minerals, aged vials, bloodstained cloth.I couldn’t lie anymore.
Amir’s fists clenched, trembling with fury.“I forbade this,” he snarled.“All those years ago, I told you never to practice alchemy, that it would alert Salvatore, that he would sense it.That he would come for you.”
His voice dropped, low and deadly.“And you defied me.”
“I had no choice!”The words tore from my throat, my eyes stinging with tears.“I couldn’t stop without fulfilling my mother’s wish.”
Amir’s face twisted in confusion, in pain.“Your mother’s wish?”
“You didn’t see her,” I said, voice cracking.“You didn’t see what he did to her, Amir.Salvatore used her.Drained her.Every breath she took was soaked in agony, in torment.Her last words—her dying wish—were that I finish what she started.That I destroy him.”
Silence.
Amir stared at me, stunned.“Elizabeth...what are you saying?”His voice was softer now, raw.“Your mother knew Salvatore personally?”
My throat tightened.My body trembled.The truth clawed at my chest.
“Amir...”My voice broke again, hoarse with shame.“I’ve been keeping secrets from you.Since the day we met.”
