Jasmin's POV
My fingers flew to my hair in desperation as consciousness crashed over me like ice water. The long strands that had been my disguise for so long were still intact, but barely. I bolted upright from the cold stone floor, my heart hammering against my ribs.
Someone could walk in at any moment. If anyone from the Academy saw me like this, everything would be over. My secret would shatter like glass, and with it, any hope I had left.
But I couldn't waste time mourning what might happen.
My fist clenched around the crimson fabric that had been left for me. The dress was a mockery of modesty with its scandalous slits running up both thighs and a neckline that plunged dangerously low. The back was nothing but bare skin held together by thin straps. It was designed to humiliate, to reduce me to nothing more than flesh on display.
I had no choice.
