Chapter 3
I woke up to a splitting pain in my head.
Figures.
I was back in that goddamn wedding carriage.
Is it really this hard to escape them?
I thought all I had to do was run.
But after what they did to me, I wasn’t just running anymore.
I was going to burn them both to the ground.
1 tried to remember every detail from last time.
I had maybe fifteen minutes before this carriage rolled into the General’s estate.
Benedict would arrive not long after.
Last time I cried when I saw him-he thought I was touched by his return.
He didn’t know I was crying out of pure relief that I wouldn’t be buried alive with a “dead hero.”
Not this time.
This time, I had a new plan.
First, I messed up my hair-ripped it out in chunks.
Then I dug my nails into my arms, scratching deep until the skin broke.
And finally, I slapped myself. Hard. Over and over.
My cheek bloomed red with welts.
By the time I looked in the mirror, I looked like I’d been held captive and beaten for days.
‘erfect.
light on cue, I heard the gate open.
A servant’s voice cracked through the courtyard.
General Benedict… You’re home…”
ootsteps.
They were headed for me.
dropped the mirror and curled into a pathetic little shape on the edge of the bed.
was pretty-always had been-but being Seraphina’s maid meant I rarely got to show it.
Today I’d done my hair up, put on just enough makeup to soften my face.
Now, tangled and bruised, I looked like something out of a tragic ballad.
The kind of girl a man would want to rescue.
Especially a man like General Benedict-who hadn’t seen a woman in months.
The door slammed open.
1 looked up, blinking back fake tears, my lip trembling.
Right on cue.
General Benedict had been fighting wars since he was sixteen.
Big, broad, intimidating as hell.
Last life, the moment I saw him, I’d been terrified.
But I’d put on a brave face, pretended to be overwhelmed with joy.
Not this time.
This time-1 screamed.
2
“NO! No, stay away from me! You’re not real! You-you’re supposed to be dead!”
I scrambled into the corner, crying, shaking like a leaf.
“It was Seraphina! She made me come!”
“She tied me up-forced me into this dress-please, please don’t haunt me!”
Let him think I was hysterical.
Let him wonder what the hell was going on.
Let’s see if he still believes the next liar who shows up at his door.
