Prologue

Blood dries fast.

Not the warm kind that runs when you’re alive. The kind that clings after death — when screaming has stopped.

Maria couldn’t remember how long she had been lying there.

Her body was sore, her wrists scraped, her lips cracked and bleeding. Her dress was torn in places she didn’t want to think about.

The room stank of smoke. There were flies near the window. And in the silence, she could hear her mother’s breathing — shallow, uneven.

Somewhere far away, a bird chirped. The sound made her stomach turn. How could the world still go on?

She blinked once. Her eyes burned.

And in that stillness — where her brother’s laughter should’ve been, where her family used to be whole — she understood something.

No one was coming.

No cavalry. No sirens. No mercy.

The people who killed him hadn’t just taken her brother. They had sent a message.

Stay down. Die quiet.

But Maria wasn’t dead.

She pushed herself up, one trembling hand at a time. Her bones protested. Her heart did not.

Her mother called her name — weakly, barely a whisper.

Maria didn’t answer.

She crossed the room and picked up a shard of broken glass.

Her reflection stared back: swollen lip, bloodied cheek, eyes that were still wet — but sharp. Too sharp for a girl.

She’d been protected once. Shielded. Sheltered.

That version of her had died in the dirt beside her brother.

The one standing now…

She would not die quietly.

Not until every name was known.

Not until every life was taken.

Not until she was queen.

Thank you for choosing this book, trust me you won't regret it. This book is everything you've ever wished for and

now,

I welcome you to the -

                  ' World of DeLuccas '

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