The chapel wassmall, old, and cold. Not in the hallowed, holy sense, but rather in the way of things forgotten. Damp clung to the stone walls. Mildew soured the air. The floor beneath her slippers was uneven, the pews cracked, the cushions flat as parchment. Unlit candles leaned in their sconces like tired old soldiers, and the air was so still it felt like it hadn’t moved in years.
Too still. Too quiet.
Only the echo of footsteps disturbed the silence—hers and his.
Paisley’s grip around her wrist was unyielding, iron fingers digging into her pulse like a shackle, forcing her forward. At the front of the chapel stood a robed vicar, flanked by a mousy woman in a fur-collared cloak—the witness.
This was happening.
Maddie’s breath came fast and shallow, her heart a wild drumbeat inside her chest. She looked around—any object could be a weapon. A candlestick. A book. A loose stone from the floor. Even her own fury.
And then she remembered.
The etui.
Still tucked into the inner pocket of her coat, next to her ribs. Small, silver, sharp-cornered. And inside: a pinch of cayenne pepper, gifted by Sera as a joke. “Just in caseyou need to ‘spice up a conversation.’”
She hadn’t thought she’d actually use it.
But she might.
“Just say the words,” Paisley muttered, dragging her toward the altar. “It’ll all be done.”
“Never.”
She twisted her arm. No use. He held on tighter.
“You are mad.”
“We’ve established that already,” he said, smiling faintly.
Maddie glared at him. “This will not end the way you think it will.”
“Oh, but it will,” he said, his tone light. “You’ll be my wife, and this whole drama will become a charming story to tell over dinner parties.”
“I will never be your wife.”
“You will,” he said simply. “Because if you don’t, your family pays the price. And I have your mother’s blessing.”
Disgust hit the back of her throat like bile.
“You’re lying.”
“Am I?”
Even if he wasn’t, she didn’t care. Not anymore.
“You and my mother have no power over me.”
Paisley laughed, a sharp, dry bark. “You’re here, aren’t you? At my mercy. That’s all the power I need.”
“I stopped this the moment I opened my mouth,” she snapped. “I will not say the words.”
“You will. Because your family’s name, your friends’ reputations, all of it is teetering. And you? You care too much not to give in.”
A quiet voice broke the tension.
“Maddie?”
