Lilith, now dressed in a flowing emerald-green gown, stood in the corner of the palace’s ballroom with her mother and an older man who appeared to be her father. Lilith was clasping her gloved hands nervously together, shooting fleeting glances at the dancing couples around the room. Several crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, casting down a warm glow upon the revelers beneath.

“They have arrived,” Lilith’s father said, pointing to two men who had just walked through the entrance. Lilith and her parents stared at the men—apparently father and son. They had light blond hair and grayish eyes, and the same broad shoulders. The younger blond man’s eyes fixed on Lilith as soon as he caught sight of her. They weaved their way through the crowd and arrived in front of Lilith and her parents.

The father held out a hand to Lilith’s father. “Meet my son, Crispian,” he said.

Lilith’s parents shook hands with Crispian, but Lilith seemed to be avoiding the young man’s gaze. Her eyes were fixed on her feet. Her mother nudged her and only then did she raise her eyes to look briefly at Crispian. She held out her hand, allowing Crispian to take it and kiss the back of it.

“Would you care to dance?” Crispian asked.

Lilith glanced up at her mother, then nodded. The young blond man smiled, while Lilith’s eyes remained cold, as Crispian placed an arm around her waist and guided her toward the dance floor.

Surfacing once again, I didn’t bother to open my eyes this time. I just pressed the jug to my lips and swallowed another deep gulp.

The sun shone overhead, the warmth of the afternoon bringing a slight blush to Lilith’s pale cheeks. She stood in the center of a rose garden wearing a white wedding dress. She pulled the veil down over her face, fixing her gaze straight ahead at the flower-covered gazebo just beyond the garden. Crowds of witches were settling themselves into the rows of seats in front of a raised platform at the back of the shelter.

White rose petals had been scattered on the ground to form a path leading from where Lilith stood up to the platform where a handsome blond warlock stood dressed in a smart gray outfit.

Lilith began to make her way slowly toward the groom. Her knuckles were white as she clutched a bouquet of flowers. Her lips formed a smile that did not reach her eyes. On reaching the platform, she looked down at the sea of faces. As they exchanged vows, Lilith’s voice was shaky. Crispian looked down at her adoringly, slipping a ring on to her finger and pushing his lips against hers.

Then the scene faded away, being replaced moments later by a bedroom. Lilith—still in her wedding dress—and Crispian stood together in the center, surrounded by a circle of red candles. Crispian had his arms around his bride while she rested her head against his chest. They swayed gently from side to side. Then Crispian manifested a knife in his hands. Holding Lilith closer against him, he ran its tip down the back of her dress, splitting it open. He rolled her sleeves down her shoulders, discarding the dress, before deftly cutting away her undergarments. He took a step away from her, his eyes roaming her bare form for perhaps the first time.

“Sit,” he whispered.

Folding her long legs beneath her, she obeyed.

Crispian knelt on the floor next to her and picked up one of the candles. He swirled it around gently, loosening some of the warm wax. Sliding his hand into her hair, he tilted her head backward and dripped a thin line of the red wax from her chest down to her navel. Then, picking her up in his arms, he carried her over to the circular bed and laid her down before proceeding to undress himself. As he began to make love to her, Lilith’s eyes remained distant.

I took another sip of potion…

Lilith wore a black cloak, her hood pulled up as she ran along one of The Sanctuary’s cobblestone roads. Her breathing was heavy and uneven as she ran. She didn’t slow down until she’d exited the city, passed through the suburbs, and arrived at the beach. She collapsed to her knees, digging her hands into the sand.

“No,” she whispered to herself, her face contorted with anguish. “I can’t leave again.”

She looked around, as if scared that someone might’ve heard her. She staggered to her feet and approached the ocean. She bent down and splashed water over her face. She bit down on her lower lip, shaking her head furiously as though she was having an argument with herself. She seemed to lose her own battle, because barely moments later, she heaved a deep sigh and vanished. When she manifested again, she appeared to be in the middle of a dense forest, so dense that barely a single ray of the moon could trickle down through the towering canopy above. Nevertheless, she launched into a sprint, racing harder and harder until the trees began thinning.

Soon she reached the end of the forest and found herself standing in a grassy clearing at the edge of a cliff. Her face shining with sweat, her eyes wide, she looked around. She whirled around at the sound of a snapping twig.

“So you came.” A deep voice spoke from the darkness of the trees behind her. A tall man with pale skin stepped into the clearing. Like Lilith, he wore a long cloak, his hood pulled up over his face. I could barely make out his features in the shadows but for two bright blue eyes. Lilith remained rooted to the spot as he stepped further into the light of the moon, closing the distance between them. Slowly, he lowered his hood, revealing cropped black hair.

“I shouldn’t have come,” Lilith breathed.

“Then why did you?”

Tears glistened in the witch’s eyes.

Passion ignited in the man’s gaze. His arms shot out and he pulled Lilith against him, dipping his head and claiming her lips. Lilith flinched at first, but then she eased into his embrace. She wrapped her arms tight around his neck, pulling herself closer. His large hands traveled down her back, one resting on her right hip while the other bunched up the hem of her dress and slid beneath it, brushing against her thigh. Breathless, she gripped his hand and stopped it from traveling any further.