CHAPTER SEVENTY EIGHT – FRIDA GIVES HER A CHANCE

At length, she allowed the faintest hint of a predatory smile to crease her stern expression. "And yet, I cannot help but detect the faintest spark of...potential within you. A resilience of spirit to offset your nosy indiscretions. Much as I loathe uninvited disruptions to my ancient customs and traditions..." She tipped her chin up an almost imperceptible fraction, eyes narrowing to slits of emerald ice. "Perhaps I've let sentiment cloud my judgment where you're concerned. But I sense you may yet be...useful. A unique opportunity to cultivate an asset where others would simply silence a threat." Frida leaned in closer still, her lupine-tinged features filling Cassie's entire vision until those pale alien irises seemed to eclipse the world. "The choice is yours" she murmured, summoning another delicate shudder of visceral trepidation in Cassie's core. "To turn your back on all you've witnessed here. Erase it from memory and return to the blissful ignorance of your former existence,