“I think it’s time you remembered what happens when you get too close to things you were only meant tocontrol.”
He turned his head, eyes flicking toward the side door.
“Bring her in.”
The sound came before the sight—wheels on stone, groaning under delicate weight.
Two guards pushed the chair forward with solemn care, as if they were escorting a queen. Or a weapon.
She was draped in white silk, her skin pale and perfect in a way that made me sick. Her hands rested limp in her lap, twitching faintly. Her golden hair had been combed and pinned, unnaturally neat—like someone had dressed her with reverence.
Like a doll.
But her eyes—
They were wrong.
Wide. Glazed. Staring straight ahead, not seeing. Notthere. Whatever had lived behind them was either gone… or buried so deep it couldn’t find the light.
“Allison…”
Her name cracked out of me.
I stepped forward instinctively, then faltered.
She was my sister. My baby sister.
And she didn’t even blink.
“Oh, youdoremember her. Wonderful,” Ashton said cheerfully, stepping forward. He ran a hand across her cheek with grotesque fondness, like he was petting something he owned.
I shook where I stood. Her name lodged again in my throat.
She gave no sign she knew me. No flicker. No twitch of recognition.
“What is she doing here, Your Highness?”
My voice trembled—not with fear. Withrage.
Ashton didn’t answer. Not at first.
He crouched beside her, brushing a lock of hair from her face with surgical gentleness.
“Allison, darling,” he murmured, voice laced with mock affection. “How are you, precious?”
Her body flinched—barely. A faint tremor passed through her hand, fingers twitching once in her lap.
“Please… don’t, sire,” I said quietly.
A whisper. A plea I hated myself for voicing.
Ashton turned his head toward me, eyes gleaming.
“You’d beg me, Thorne? Formercy?” His voice dripped with disdain. “And why would I grant that… when I’ve given you everything, only to watch you piss it away?”
He smiled then. Too wide. Too pleased.
Turning back to her, he leaned in close, his mouth near her ear.
