Her wrists still ached from where Liu Xuan Cheng had pinned them to the marble table last night. His voice, low and dangerous, echoed in her mind: 'Stop looking at me like I'll break you. I already did.' He wasn't wrong. Since the day he'd torn her from her world—her broken, half-dead self—he'd done nothing but break her walls, one rough touch at a time. Apathy had been her shield, but he'd burned through it with his possessive fire.

Now she sat in the library, nausea clawing at her throat, the memory of his hands on her body making her flush. He'd been gentler lately, if Liu Xuan Cheng could ever be gentle—kisses that lingered, fingers that traced instead of grabbed. But the underlying threat remained: she was his. Property of the Tower Master.

A sudden wave of dizziness hit, and she swayed. Before she could collapse, a hand caught her—Lira, the only mage who'd bothered to speak to her without disdain. 'You look like shit,' Lira said, but her tone was worried. Without waiting for an answer, she teleported them to the alchemist's lab.

The alchemist, Kael, scowled when he saw her. 'A human? In my lab?' he snapped. Lira crossed her arms. 'She's sick. Fix her.' Kael muttered under his breath but approached, placing a hand on her wrist. His magic probed her body, and his eyes widened. He stepped back so quickly he almost knocked over a vial. 'You're pregnant.'

Her blood went cold. No. Impossible. Unless... Last week, when he'd been particularly rough, his control slipping as he'd groaned against her neck, 'Mine, all mine.'

Kael's gaze sharpened. 'Don't tell me—this is the Tower Master's?' His voice dropped. 'Liu Xuan Cheng's child?'

Lira stiffened. The room felt too small. She could almost feel Liu Xuan Cheng's presence, his possessiveness wrapping around her like a chain. Pregnant. With his child. The man who'd broken her was now tied to her forever by a life growing inside her.