"You can’t leave me alone like this!" she cried, her trembling hand reaching toward Lucian as though her outstretched fingers could tether him to her. As she channeled her powers, a sudden gust of wind slammed the door shut, echoing her desperate plea in the silence that followed.

Cithara had hoped her words, her pain, her very presence might stir some spark of remorse within him. She had clung to the fragile hope that she could make him understand the depth of his betrayal. But what ...