Page 109 of Owned

How could I stand here and wish for the comfort of a predictable rainstorm?

As I stood at the edge of the path, moonlight spilled over my shoulders and its chill bit into my skin.

The stars glimmered above, distant and indifferent.

Tears pricked at my eyelashes…

How long had it been since I’d seen the stars?

I blinked them away before they could fall.

Tears wouldn’t fix anything.

And crying over stars was stupid.

“You’ve changed—”The grimoire’s hiss was gentle for once.

“If I am, it’s your fault,” I muttered.

I took a step forward, and the rain soaked earth squelched beneath my feet and the cold mud seeped into the satin of my shoes.

“Hurry,” a voice whispered, beckoning me deeper into the tangled labyrinth of the garden.

Valen?

The sound curled around me like smoke and urged me onward.

I hesitated, but only for a moment.

The memory of his promise to help me escape this place tightened my throat.

I forced my legs to move and hurried into the garden—suddenly worried that I would be caught and dragged back to the house and thrown into the confines of my room once more.

Or Lucian’s study.

Either option was an unwelcome one.

Freedom.

That was what I wanted.

“Would you kill for it?”

My steps faltered as the grimoire’s voice sliced through my thoughts.

Would I?

Yes.

The answer was just as sharp.

That shut you up.

I followed the voice.

Was it Valen? Or something else?

I wasn’t convinced that the woods weren’t full of monsters…

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