“It is working,” Harmony said as the brick moved, millimeter by millimeter, painstakingly slowly. Finally, after minutes of working the jagged brick out of its home, it was freed into my hands.

I exhaled, breathless with exertion. But my tiredness was soon forgotten as I discarded the brick, hiding it in the darkest corner of the cell. I stared down at the hole in the wall. My heart slammed against my ribs and my pulse raced faster in my neck.

“Rider,” Harmony said breathlessly. “It worked.”

I let my eyes close momentarily. Her sweet soft voice sounded clearer to my ears, no longer muted by the thick wall. Warmth spread along my limbs when she added, “Let me see you. I want to see you.”

Making sure my hair was over more of my face than usual, I gradually lowered my body down to the floor, my chest to the ground, controlling my breathing as pain shot through me. When my body was still, I moved my head to the gap in the wall and peered through.

My entire body froze. Looking back at me were the most beautiful dark-brown eyes I had ever seen. Long black lashes fluttered as Harmony’s gaze clashed with my own. “Harmony,” I said in breathless admiration.

“Rider,” she replied, her voice just as awestruck. She moved her body up further so the rest of her face came into view. I frowned. A veil covered her from the top of her cheekbones down to her neck.

A deep red blush blossomed on the skin that was free from coverage. Harmony lifted her hand and ran it along the light-blue material. “The prophet ordered that I wear it at all times.”

My eyebrows pulled down. “Why?”

“Because I am the only chance left to fulfill the prophecy. He wants me to remain pure before our wedding day.” She touched the veil again. “This veil ensures that I tempt no man into taking my body before our wedding night. It is why I am being kept in this cell. I am to be revealed to the people when the time is called for. Not a moment before.”

Tension filled me, anger burned within me at the hurt in Harmony’s voice. Judah. This was all Judah again. To calm myself down, I focused on Harmony’s eyes. My lips hooked into an unexpected smile when I caught a flash of blond hair escaping from her headdress. “You have blond hair.”

“Yes,” she replied. Her cheeks moved, and I knew that underneath her veil she was smiling. Although I couldn’t see her lips, she was smiling with her eyes. “And you have brown hair and brown eyes.” I panicked under her scrutiny, praying she didn’t detect any resemblance to Judah. My nerves were soothed when she said, “But I cannot see most of you through the blood and dirt on your skin.” Her eyes glistened, and her voice faded to a whisper. “Rider . . . what has been done to you?”

Her sorrow-filled voice cut me where I lay. “What I deserve,” I replied, my voice husky. Harmony shook her head, as if she was going to argue, but I cut her off. “Will you . . . will you remove your veil for me? I want . . . I want to see you. I need to see your face.”

Harmony stilled, and her wide eyes searched mine. “Harmony,” I said quietly, speaking from my heart. “I don’t believe you are cursed.”

“But . . . but I have been declared so,” she said, her voice trembling.

“I don’t believe beauty is devil-created,” I assured her. I swallowed hard. “I used to, Harmony. For so long I believed it to be true, I didn’t doubt the teachings . . . But now . . . ” I trailed off. Harmony was silent, waiting for me to finish. I sighed. “But now I think that maybe it was just another falsehood. Another belief that I devoutly honored, and now wonder if there was any substance to it at all.”

Harmony’s eyes narrowed above her veil as if trying to read me. I stared back, open and honest. I had lied so much in my life, pretended for so long, that I no longer had the strength to keep up any form of charade. Not with Harmony. I wanted her to see me. And only me. Not Cain . . . but me.

I was tired. So fucking tired of it all.

The minutes ticked by, and Harmony didn’t move. I feared that she had decided I wasn’t a person to trust. I had just given up hope that I would see her face when she lifted her hand and brought it to the side of her head. I could see her fingers shaking as she unclasped the veil and guided the pale-blue material away from her face.

I held my breath as the delicate fabric fell away. Heat filled my chest when Harmony looked at me, free from the barrier.

She was quite simply the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my life.

Tingles of warmth raced down my spine as Harmony swallowed nervously. The apples of her cheeks were kissed with a pink blush and her dark eyes glistened. Her skin was silky and pale in color. Her cheekbones were high and defined, and her lips were deep pink and plump. “Harmony,” I said on a long exhale. I wanted to tell her she was beautiful, the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. But I held back. As a Cursed, my comment on her beauty would be the last thing she wanted to hear. “Thank you,” I said softly.