lila hayes

Sophia clutched her hands tightly. “But I did know. I knew she had that venom because I helped her transfer its abilities to a vial of Abernathy’s Ichor. I warned her what would happen, how dangerous it was to keep that bottle, and implored her to destroy it. She didn’t listen and told me to keep it a secret. To my shame, I did, and now I have the king’s blood, and the blood of countless knights and soldiers on my hands. Cyrilo said she would take responsibility for anything that happened, but all she’s done is go with the flow, hiding behind lies. Every time I try to talk to her about it, about us facing our sins, she silences me. She did it today, which is why I came to you. I must admit, I’ve lost a great deal of respect for her.

“It was some intense training, but you don’t need to worry. You said Sophia is here? Just her, no Alexis or Cyrilo?”“No, sir.”“Interesting. Please show her in and make some tea. Tell her I’ll be down by the time it’s ready.”Of course,” she said with a bow.After Shannon departed, Noah gave himself a quick birdbath with a damp cloth to wipe off his sweat. The training had been intense indeed. He also needed to stop his nosebleed before he saw Sophia.

“Oh my God!” I gasped, hardly able to believe what she seemed to be saying. “Ray? Is that really you?” I stared at her face... and yes, now that I knew what to look for, behind the expertly applied makeup and incredibly skillful plastic surgery, I could see it was true.