(Updates everyday)
Power demands what it's owed, and souls are its favorite currency.
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When museum curator, Lena Goodwin, receives an anonymous package containing damning evidence of a mistake she thought she buried years ago, her carefully built...
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Lena had tried all day to remove her restraints. She tried anything and everything she could possibly think of, though knowing fully well none of her methods would work.
Hugh wasn't like her, he had magic she could never amount to, and any attempts at loosening the rope around her wrists had somehow only made them even tighter and left her skin red and raw.
In between her efforts, she thought about venturing outside Hugh's bedroom, but she got the distinct impression he would know the second she stepped foot into the hallway. So, instead, she stayed put. On his bed with the door wide open so she could see when he returned.
When he did, his normally composed stance looked frayed and weary. Dirt dusted his button up, and there was something darker glinting red underneath the dim lighting at the entrance.
His hands trembled slightly, even as he held a death grip on the Codex, knuckles white against the ancient book. The usual air of authority and cold calculation seemed to diminish, shaken with distraught, and, was that fear she saw in his furrowed gaze?
He hardly glanced her way as he moved throughout his apartment. His mind was elsewhere as he placed the Codex back on his dining table. His fingers lingered on it for a moment too long until he finally stepped back.
Only then did Lena notice Roran's missing presence. A chill ran down her spine. Where was he?
They had left together earlier, keeping her out of the loop with their whispers, but she could guess where they had gone. It had to have something to do with what she told him the night before. About the Necromancers. And, if that was true and Roran was gone, something had gone awry.
"Where's Roran?" She knew better than to ask, but she wasn't going to pretend she didn't notice how jarring the terror laced in Hugh's expression was. Whatever happened to Roran had shaken him up.
Hugh's eyes flicked to her. Just a brief glimpse but long enough to rattle her bones. "He... He won't be returning." His words were clipped, final. That was all the explanation he was willing to offer.
That was enough to know Roran hadn't survived the trip. She hadn't exactly trusted him, and he tended to disgust her with his advances, but she'd gotten used to him being around. He watched over her like a hawk, predatorial but protective whenever Hugh was around.
Uneasiness stirred within her, suspicion and curiosity sharply twisted in her stomach.
There was something different in Hugh's tone, a certain weight when he spoke. Lena could feel the gravity of the situation, and though she should drop it, she couldn't help herself.
"What happened? You look like you've just been through hell. And Roran, why isn't he here?"
She had to know. Needed to know if it was Hugh's doing or the Codex's.
