Chapter 93

**Celeste's POV**

The stairs creaked under my bare feet as I crept down to Father's study.

Midnight had come and gone. The house was silent except for the grandfather clock ticking in the hallway, counting down the last minutes of my old life. In my pocket, the vial of poison felt warm against my hip, pulsing in rhythm with the black star on my palm.

Father's study door stood open, yellow light spilling into the dark hallway. I could hear him moving around ...