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Struggling to steady her treers, Isla took the bottle She raised it in a toast “To freedo it down

She didn’t really knohat to expect Ivana took the bottle froh at anyshriek would burst from her lips and she would fall to the floor in a fit

“You should lie down,” Ivana said, the furroeen her brows deepening “It can come upon you quickly, catch you unawares”

Trusting the lady’s judgement, Isla climbed onto the four-poster bed She lay in the middle, her arundyhere”

“You must prepare yourself” Ivana came to stand at her side, bent forward to brush the hair from her brow “Do you feel any different?”

The inary symptourgling, and her hands were shaking, but that could easily be attributed to fear

“I have a strange taste in ue over her teeth “And h all the fluid fro drawn to one place”

Ivana reached down and took her hand, clasped it tight “Hold ontoto cope with the pain”

Isla stared up at her She had known kindness in her life; she knehen a person’s heart was pure and genuine Ivana was right When they parted, they would do so as friends “Let htful—”

A sharp stabbing pain caused her to tug on Ivana’s hand She tried to roll onto her side to suppress it, but no matter which way she twisted or turned her body it did not subside

Ivana touched her head “You feel hot” Her voice held a hint of panic

The pain grew in intensity, like a thousand pins being prodded into her body over and over again Her face becaer and dabbed at her cheek she would hear a sizzle

“H-help me” The words burst from her lips as she clutched her throat

She was burning, cooking from the inside out The Devil had come to claim her This is what it felt like deep in the fiery pits of Hell

Soht she heard Lachlan’s voice