Morgana leaned back in the high-backed chair, her lips curling into a triumphant smirk. The dim light from the chandelier cast sharp shadows on her face.

“It worked,” she said, her voice filled with satisfaction. “Never thought hypnosis would work on her.”

Sebastian placed the small vial of blood back on the desk, his expression calm but quietly smug. “I think it was possible with her blood,” he replied, gesturing to the faint remnants of blood inside the glass. “Without that ...