More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Read between
May 12 - May 22, 2025
Aurick
If I turn a blind eye, I am no better than the people who revel in their torture.
I refuse to stare into those cold green eyes. Scarlett’s eyes. The eyes I gazed into as I lit her house on fire.
How could a mother let men touch her daughter? How could she hear my cries and collect her coin as I suffered?
The purpose is to keep them away from civilization. To protect the public from them. They are natural-born killers. They don’t have souls, most would argue.”
If more people with compassion chose to see the ugly and not turn a blind eye, maybe this world would be a better place.
Miss Ambrose?” I freeze. I never told her my full name. “Don’t be frightened. He’s been expecting you.”
Patient Thirteen—has a rare and deeply disturbing disorder. His soul—or personality, is split into two entities. The part that we see on a daily basis is beyond anything you can imagine. Murderous, genius, manipulative—vicious. There aren’t enough adjectives in the world.”
“The core personality is what we believe to be the tame version of himself. But we haven’t seen that personality since he admitted himself into the asylum four years ago. We believe his brain works differently than ours. It’s rather extraordinary, really, if he weren’t so dangerous, the savants of this city would take much pleasure in measuring the lengths and capacity of his mind—”
“Are you going to leave her waiting in the doorway, Suseas? Or are you going to introduce us?” It isn’t until Suseas’s glassy eyes flash up to meet my own that I pick up on who he’s referring to. Me. He wants to meet me.
“Who says these are the only minutes I have observed?”
“I’ll thank you kindly to keep your hands off of my conformist,” he says, his rugged voice quieting the panic in the room like a theater. “You wouldn’t want me to lose my temper.”
“You can watch me leave with her, or you can watch her drop dead at your feet.”
Dessin reaches his head around to the side of my face and kisses my cheek softly, leaving a warmth like a static shock in his wake, a tingle of energy where his flesh met mine. “Shall we?” he whispers into my ear.
“And there’s a rumor you set the fire with your sister inside because you were jealous of her. You wanted to steal her life.” And he’s back in the game.
“You’re going to drink this. We’re going to fight through it together. And you’re going to leave this room without a scratch. They’ll think you’re an untouchable demon from hell.”
“Thank you for protecting me,” I whisper, trapping my warm breath against his neck.
“Skylenna,” he pants, forehead pressing against mine. “I need you to be safe. I need you to be safe.” There’s emotion there. Ancient, clouded feeling that’s layered with lust.
“No, Skylenna. But I think you should make one more stop before going back into the arms of the devil.” He smirks at the satanic reference to Aurick. “Go see Jack.” My father. Strange to hear someone else say his name as if they knew him personally.
“Do you understand that by undermining Aurick’s authority, as master of this house—you have undoubtedly embarrassed him in front of company?”
“And you understand how lucky you are that your friend and gracious host of this estate doesn’t strike you across the face or introduce you to the paddle for this indiscretion?”
“Yes, it’s normal, and it’s acceptable to this society,” he states clearly, lowering his gaze to level with mine. “But no, it’s not normal. It’s not acceptable. It’s unforgivable—to me.”
“Look at me,” he orders, “if he ever strikes you… You tell me immediately. I will cut off every piece of him that he believes makes him a man and shove it into his mouth until he asphyxiates.”
“Say your goodbyes,” he says, murder dancing in his chocolate eyes. “I’m going to kill them all.”
“I’d like to make a toast”—Meridei holds her flute at eye level—“to myself.” She laughs teasingly, then her face falls as she shoots a vicious glare in my direction. “For being so generous to share my former lover, Aurick, with Skylenna. The conformist that has set out to destroy Emerald Lake Asylum.”
“To Aurick. May his cock still taste like me.” Oh my God.
“I gave them the satan root, just as they gave you… Only with a twist.” Satan root. The poison they slipped in my tea in the dining hall. Ha!
“Let me make myself imperatively clear.” He steps up to Aurick, only a finger’s length away. “If you ever…ever… strike her again… I’ll make her watch while I castrate you.”
“Because this is where I buried her—where I tossed her ashes—or what I told myself was her ashes because I couldn’t identify the body!”
“And she was hanging!” The cry comes now, blustering out of my chest. Tears pooling in my eyes and streaming rivers down my cold cheeks. “Her body swinging back and forth. She had hung herself. My Scarlett had—hung herself in the closet where she was kept a prisoner. Fresh tears were still on her cheeks. Her neck was the color of a plum and elongated—the image of her was mortifying. And I was in shock. I couldn’t breathe. But then I saw the note on the ground in front of her feet hovering above it. In fresh ink, it read: ‘I still love you.’”
“I wouldn’t have let you burn alone.”
“I know what it is now… Your greatest fear is losing me. I know this because my greatest fear is losing you.”
“I went back to the asylum to break Chekiss and Niles out. They’re in a safe location now, with everything they’ll need until it’s safe for us to meet with them again.”
