Chapter 81

• When consciousness finally returned, it did so like a slap of winter savage, unforgiving. My entire body trembled from the raw bite of cold air. Aronne hadn’t been lying. Whatever venomous magic he unleashed when he sank his teeth into me had ignited something monstrous inside an unholy fire that devoured me from the inside out. I burned until I went mad with it, until death seemed like the only mercy left in the world.
• But death never came.
• Instead, relief flooded me like a tide breaking against scorched earth. The agony withdrew, leaving behind a frost so sharp that even a breath was enough to send needles of pain stabbing through my skin.