Page 48 (1/2)

Elisa slowly changed in each one

I gasped as I stue where blood wasn’t red but burnt bronze, trickling from lash marks on Elisa’s crea e thatin the footsteps of another, no matter how unique I felt

Just like when Jethro caht in Milan when I’d found out my life was never mine That Jethro was just as indebted as led predetermined fate

My lie shoen, standing with the First Debt whip in his hand, a tortured expression on his face He was more than just Jethro’s ancestor--he could’ve been his identical twin Seeing another ht tears to ret and connection blazed through the grainy picture

We weren’t the only ones to fall in love

Owen and Elisa had defied the Weaver-Hawk boundary and fallen hard

Photo after photo

Trial after trial

Their love deepened and blossomed, only to be slowly hacked away as ti stool Elisa dangled on the sa below her

The Third Debt in the gaht and unyielding, eyes begging for a reprieve

Aes Photos of Elisa sewing, sitting in the gardens, trailing her fingers in the fountain, looking up at the cloud congested sky as if she could fly away There were also secret i her, his fists in his pockets, his face trans their history

An exact replica of two people’s lifetio

Yet another example that I was no different fro my fate

I jumped as Bonnie brushed aside ainst my throat "See, child You think you’re different You think you’d won by clai" She waved at the timeline boldly placed on her walls like jewels "I sahat happened with my ancestors before you even arrived The day I saw the resemblance between Jethro and Owen, I studied the records I armed myself years before you caeneration wouldn’t be straightforward and I planned accordingly" Her s, Nila Both of our families are cursed to bear such a trial, and only the worthy are per es all frailded frame "Study this well, child This is what happened to Elisa once Oas dealt with for his infractions And this is ill happen to you"

I clapped a hand over my mouth

Oas dealt with? He was killed, too?

My eyes burned as the sepia photos engraved themselves on my brain

Torture after torture