Novels by S.A.B

Summer’s POVThe world returned to me in pieces. Cold air against my skin. The distant wail of sirens. Shadows moving above me.A shaking engine rumbling beneath my back.My eyes fluttered open, blurry, disoriented, and the first thing I saw was the inside of a van ceiling, dim and sterile.I jolted upright so fast the tubes taped to my arm ripped free.“Easy! EASY....SUMMER, STOP—” a medic shouted, trying to push me back down.But panic surged through me like fire.“Where—” My throat cracked, dry and raw. “Where is Alexander?!”Lucien appeared from the other side of the van, blood-streaked, sweat-soaked, bruises everywhere but alive. He knelt beside me, grabbing my shoulders gently.“Summer, breathe. You’re safe now. You’re—”“WHERE IS HE?” I screamed, shoving his hands away, body trembling uncontrollably. “WHERE IS ALEXANDER? WHY ISN’T HE HERE?”Lucien exchanged a look with Mom. The silence stabbed deeper than any blade.Mom’s jaw tightened, eyes flicking aside, avoiding mine. “He’s

Summer POVIrvine leveled the gun at Alexander’s forehead.The metallic click echoed louder than the screams, louder than the alarms, louder than my heartbeat pulsing weakly in my ears.Alexander didn’t flinch.He stood between me and death, breath shaking, chest rising and falling with exhaustion, but he didn’t move. Didn’t run. Didn’t beg.He just stared Irvine down with a rage so cold it felt like steel.“Step away from her,” he growled.Irvine cocked her head, smiling. “Oh, Alexander… you’re still pretending you can protect her? You can’t even protect yourself.” Her finger tightened on the trigger.Lucien struggled against the men holding him, teeth bared, voice ripping out of him raw and frantic. “ALEX! MOVE!”I couldn’t breathe. My body wouldn’t move. The tubes in my arms pulsed with every weak beat of my heart. The machine beeped irregularly now, the rhythm fading.My vision flickered. Slow. Fading. And yet I saw everything.Alexander, bruised and bleeding, glaring at Irvine li

Summer POV“Summer!” Alexander roared across the chaos. “Stay awake, don’t you dare close your eyes!”I tried. God, I tried. But the machine was pulling everything from me. My limbs were ice, my vision fogged.I blinked hard.And that’s when Irvine stepped out of the haze.Her red gown was torn at the hip, streaked with soot, her hair falling from its immaculate curls, but her eyes, cold emerald burning with madness, were fixed on one thing....Alexander.She lunged at him. Not to shoot.But to grab the gun in his hand.Alexander reacted too late. Her fingers clenched around the barrel, twisting it toward herself, and suddenly they were locked in a vicious, desperate struggle, bodies colliding, the gun jerking between them like a live serpent.Alexander growled, muscles bulging as he fought to keep the weapon aligned away from Summer, away from me.Irvine bared her teeth. “LET GO!”“Over my dead body!” he snarled back.The gun’s trigger kept slamming uselessly under both their grips,

Summer’s POVThe humming of the machine faded into a distant roar as pain and adrenaline waged war inside my body. My eyes fluttered open, barely able to focus. Smoke curled like serpents in the dim, fluorescent-lit room. Debris littered the floor, shattered glass glinting under the harsh overhead lights. Sparks from torn wires hissed, casting momentary shadows that danced like demons across the walls.My body felt like it belonged to someone else. Heavy. Slow. Every nerve screamed with exhaustion, blood loss, and the numbing aftereffects of the apparatus they’d strapped me into. I tried to lift my arm. It wobbled. My legs trembled. But I could see movement, familiar movement.Alexander and Lucien.Two figures cutting through chaos like black blades in a storm. Alexander moved first, slicing through the Montalbans’ men with uncanny precision, each strike calculated, each step a dance of death. His suit was scorched and bloodied, tie loosened, his shirt sleeves rolled up, revealing mus

Summer’s POVThe heat of the explosion still burned in my lungs, my ears ringing with shards of glass and screams. Smoke clawed at my eyes, stinging them, turning everything into gray chaos. I tried to move, to find Alexander, but before I could take a step, a rough hand grabbed my wrist, twisting it painfully.“Got her!” a harsh voice barked, and I realized I was no longer running, I was being dragged.My legs kicked, my fists flailed, but they were too strong. Every strike I landed against their arms barely caused them to flinch. These men, Montalban men were like shadows made of iron. Even when I landed a punch to the jaw of one, he barely staggered, only letting out a grunt of annoyance.Panic and fury collided in my chest. I won’t die here. Not like this. Not without him.Another figure stepped from the smoke, tall, commanding… and my blood ran cold. Irvine. Her presence was like a blade pressed against my spine. The way she moved, confident, cold, deadly, made my training feel c

Third Person POVThe first gunshot shattered the ballroom like a crack in glass. It came from the mezzanine, sharp, metallic, unmistakable.Then another. And another.Panic erupted instantly.Crystal flutes crashed to the marble floor. Guests screamed. The violins stopped mid-note, the music slicing abruptly into a horrifying silence before it was swallowed by chaos. Chandeliers trembled overhead as hundreds tried to rush for the exits all at once, a tidal wave of terror swelling across the room.Summer froze for a heartbeat, just one, before everything inside her snapped into sharp, burning focus.Alexander.Where was he?She scanned the stampede of gowns and suits, pushing bodies aside as gunfire cracked again, louder, closer. Smoke began to curl along the ceiling. Lights flickered. Men in black tactical gear appeared at the edges of the ballroom, firing warning shots into the air and yelling commands that only fueled the hysteria.Summer ducked instinctively as a bullet shattered a