The kiss on stage didn't feel like romance; it felt like conquest. In front of hundreds of pairs of eyes belonging to Avernon City's elite, Anna could feel her heart beating so fast that she was afraid her chest would explode. Alaric held her with almost painful force, as if he were planting his flag in new territory.
There were no cheers. Only a suffocating silence, followed by a murmur of hatred that spread like wildfire.
"You're insane, Alaric!"
The voice boomed from the front row. Silas Devano, the patriarch of the Devano family, stepped forward. His wrinkled but rigid face looked like a mask of rage. His eyes looked at Anna with even more disgust than her mother had shown earlier that afternoon.
"You brought this little whore to our family's official event? After what you did to her sister?" Silas pointed at Anna with his trembling finger. "She is a curse to her family, and you brought her here to be a curse to the Devanos?"
