Prologue - Blood and Roses The night I first cast a spell, the moon hung low - a silver coin tossed carelessly into a sky too dark to care. The air smelled of rain and rose petals, and my hands wouldn't stop trembling. I wasn't born a witch. I became one the moment I said his name over a candle flame. Elias. It slipped from my lips like a prayer, or maybe a curse. I didn't know the difference back then. All I knew was that he looked at me like I was invisible, and I was tired of being unseen. They say love spells are dangerous - that magic born of longing can twist into something darker. But I didn't listen. I was seventeen and stupid and aching for him. So I mixed rose thorns with a drop of my blood, whispered the words from a book that shouldn't have been in my hands, and hoped the universe would be kind. The universe wasn't. When the candle went out, the world changed - just a little. His eyes found mine the next morning, and for the first time, he smiled. But there was something behind that smile... something I didn't recognize. And as the roses in my window began to bloom redder than blood, I realized I hadn't asked for love. I'd called for something else entirely. ______________________
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