I couldn't sleep a wink that night. Everything had happened in a constant torrent, one thing after another with no chance to catch my breath.
I thought I was beginning to untangle the knots, but it only made the web more suffocating.
What began as a desperate game of earning favor from the male leads had now spiraled into an ancient curse, sealed into the bones of a legendary being.
What would come next if I freed Rorden from his human vessel?
War? The end of humankind?
From what Rorden implied, he still intended to keep me by his side as his empress, just in case the curse reawakened.
He didn't want to slip away quietly into oblivion. He wanted an ending worthy of spectacle, not tragedy.
Perhaps he intended to drag the entire continent down with him into the depths of hell.
A ruthless tyrant. Arrogant and cruel. The very qualities that had bound him to this curse. And yet he bore no remorse.
