Page 199 of Owned

My eyes darted over the familiar decorations, and a shiver ran down my spine.

It was as if time had looped back on itself to ensnare me in a web of fate I could not escape.

“Not this time,” the voice breathed. “This time I’m here with you. This time you’re not alone.”

I took a breath, but it lodged itself in my throat.

I thought of my stepbrothers and the spell that had been cast just before we’d come down the stairs.

The spell pulsed through me like a heartbeat.

“Please let them be safe,” I murmured. There was no way to know what was going to happen now.

Every plan I’d made was gone—I could only hope that the dark entity that possessed me would do what it had promised.

“Don’t worry so loudly,” the voice murmured, and I could almost hear its smile. “Trust me.”

“Youkidnappedme!” I shouted into the void. The echo was muffled.

“Willing possession,” it reminded me.

“Fuck!”

The click of a sharp tongue in admonishment was the only reply.

An enormous bouquet was pushed into my hands and my fingers curled around it. I could feel the soft texture of the velvet ribbon that bound the stems beneath my fingertips, but even that was muted and strange.

Music filled the air and people turned to stare as I was led to the aisle.

An image of Titus flashed through my mind: his fierce expressions, the way his strength overpowered and shielded me at the same time. And then Bastian, with his wild laughter and sharp humor… he saw everything. Would he be able to see that I was different? Valen lingered in my thoughts like an enigmatic shadow, and I longed to lose myself in his embrace.

Would they forgive me for this betrayal?

I couldn’t bear to think of their faces when they discovered what I’d done—

Lucian’s pale gaze burned into me as I approached the altar and my shoulders straightened.

“There he is,” the voice murmured. “So arrogant. So proud. He’ll never expect this—”

I struggled against the magic that washed over me in another gentle wave, but nothing happened.

“How long are you going to keep me here?” I hissed.

Soft laughter filled my ears. “As long as it takes.”

The Necromi Elder who would perform the marriage rite was familiar—the same one who had spoken the words at my mother’s wedding. His expression didn’t change as I came to a stop in front of Lucian.

There was no mistaking the hunger in his silvered eyes as they swept over me.

“Lovely,” he purred.

The mysterious orb that hovered over his shoulder pulsed with eerie crimson light while the mist around it swirled and spilled down to the floor, dissipating before it could touch the polished marble.

Revulsion coursed through me, but an anger that I didn’t recognize quickly overtook it. An anger that wasn’t mine.

Hot.

Bitter.

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