Chapter 3

At four in the morning,I was dragged out of sleep.

The clan physician stood in my doorway,his expression grave,his words coming fast.He said Celeste had a congenital blood-wasting condition that had gone into acute crisis tonight.The castle's blood stores were all the wrong type;sourcing a match from outside would take at least five hours,and she couldn't wait that long.

"We reviewed the files of every member of the entire clan,"he said,pausing.The look he gave me turned strange."The only compatible blood type…is yours."

I leaned against the doorframe,frowning."Right now?"

"Right now.Immediately.The patriarch's orders."

The patriarch's orders.

I went without argument.

Passing through the main hall,I could faintly hear a woman's muffled moaning and sobbing from inside.

They pressed me down onto a narrow bed.

The trouble started with the first needle.

The nurse slid it into the inside of my arm,connected the tube,and blood began to flow—but within ten seconds,the skin around the puncture had already begun to close,pushing the needle outward.

The nurse frowned and was forced to reinsert it,deeper,angled slightly over,searching for a spot not yet healed.

By the end of the first bag,my inner arm was covered in a dense cluster of closing needle holes.

"Draw another bag,"the physician said,his face grim."Celeste's clotting markers haven't stabilized."

The nurse hesitated."Another draw would push her close to her limit.And her healing is so fast the punctures keep closing—we have to reinsert almost constantly…"

"The patriarch said at any cost."

At any cost.

At any cost to save his marriage alliance.

Even if it meant turning my arm into a pincushion.

By the start of the third bag,my body temperature had already begun to drop.

I forced my eyes open and stared at the stone grain of the ceiling,demanding that I stay conscious.

Near the end,I couldn't hold on.

I blacked out on that narrow bed.

I don't know how much time passed before I opened my eyes again.

Darian was sitting at the bedside,dark circles of exhaustion under his eyes.

He saw me wake and leaned in,fingertips grazing my cheek.

"Your color is terrible,"he said,his brow creasing.

He lowered his head.He always did this before he kissed me—running his thumb lightly over my lower lip first,then bending down—

I turned my face away.

His lips grazed my cheekbone.

Silence.

A flicker of disbelief moved through his eyes.

"Don't be difficult,Elaina."His voice dropped."Celeste's condition only just stabilized,the Montfords are still applying pressure,I haven't slept all night."He pressed his thumb and forefinger against the bridge of his nose,his tone heavy with exhaustion."I've spent all my energy managing her already.I thought—at least you—could be on my side and spare me the trouble."

Spare him the trouble.

My whole body was shaking with cold,my lips ash-white.I had barely clawed my way back from unconsciousness.

He had told me to kneel,and I had knelt.

He had wanted my blood drawn,and I had agreed.

All I had done was turn my face from his kiss.

And that was being difficult?

By what right?By what conceivable right did I have to accommodate him in everything?

I was his subordinate.But I was also a person.

"I'm not happy,"I said.My voice came out hoarse.

He stared at me.

"I'm not happy,"I said again."Is that clear enough?I'm not happy."

I forced the moisture back from my eyes.

"You tell me to hunt,I go.You tell me to wash up and get into your bed,I do.You tell me you're marrying someone else,I don't say a word.Tonight you needed my blood drawn and I lay here without a sound.Everything,every single thing,I endured."

"Darian.Was that convenient enough for you?"

I must have lost my mind to speak to him this way.

A vein pulsed at Darian's temple.

"You're being completely unreasonable."

He slammed out the door.

Unreasonable.

I closed my eyes and let the last drop of tears slide from the corner of my eye into my hair.

Enough.

This was the last tear I would ever shed for Darian Hawthorn.

That evening I climbed out of bed.

I steadied myself with one hand on the wall,moving step by step from the medical room to the steward's office.

Richard was inside.When he looked up and saw me push through the door,he went still.

"Elaina?What happened to you?"

"I want to sign the separation papers."

He stared at me,stunned.

"What?"

"To sever from the clan."I crossed to his desk and braced both hands on the edge."I'm leaving,Richard."

"Have you thought this through?That mark will be with you for the rest of your life."

"I know."

"It's going to hurt."He looked almost pained on my behalf."You're a young woman."

I stood before him with bloodless lips.Both arms from elbow to wrist were solid bruising,covered in the residue of needle holes,my healing slowed from blood loss.

"Staying here will hurt more."

He let out a long breath,turned to the cabinet,and pulled out a file.He set it in front of me.

"Sign,then.We'll schedule the ceremony for three days from now."

Three days.

I pulled up a faint smile.

If I remembered right,three days from now was also the day of the blood-oath marriage ceremony.

Richard looked at my smile and probably decided I'd genuinely lost my sanity.He rummaged through his drawer and produced a tube of antiseptic cream,which he set in front of me.

"Treat the puncture wounds.Don't let them get infected."

I took the cream,thanked him,and walked out of the office.