LOGINLizs povI stood turning around to see myself for the first time in the mirror, my hair and make-up done. The dress sticking to my skin like it was home and my heart racing. “You look beautiful”, Diana said as she stepped closer to my side. “Are you ready?”My eyes found hers in the mirror. I couldn't answer her right away, instead I just stood there looking at myself.Not at the dress or how my hair fell perfectly into place, or the soft glow of my skin.But at me.The girl staring back didn’t look like the one who had once stood in front of a mirror preparing to marry Lumian. That girl had been nervous, unsure, and weak. Trying to convince herself she was happy.This…This felt different.My hand lifted slowly, pressing lightly over my chest.My heart was racing.But not from fear.From something so deep and overwhelming, it almost made my knees weak.“I am,” I said softly, a small smile spreading on my lips.Diana’s smile softened beside me, and I felt her hand squeeze my arm gen
Lizs povStaring down at the book in my hands, they shock just enough for me to see it. My fingers tightened around the edges of it.I hadn’t even opened it yet, just holding it felt like too much. Like the moment I turned that first page, everything about my life might change.A knock came from the door, making me jump to my feet, the book falling from my hands, pages scattering on the floor in front of me.The door opened a second later, and Alice stepped inside first. Diana followed right behind her, and Melissa slipped in last, carrying a package and closing the door quietly behind them.For a second, none of them said anything.They were all just stood there staring at me.Then Alice crossed her arms and shook her head.“Oh no,” she said immediately. “That look has to go.”My eyebrows pulled together in confusion. “What look?”“The one that says you’re about to lock yourself in this room and spiral into an overthinking mess,” Diana said as she walked further into the room, plac
Lizs povAlice stood there staring at me with wide eyes. “No, you're shitting me. Lumian's a hybrid.” Her hand came up to her mouth as she bit down on her nails. “This has her written all over it, but why…” She turned away from us, taking a minute to let everything I'd just told her settle in her mind.I wished I had the answers that everyone wanted. I'd been trying to find an explanation myself. “Shes desprate,” Melissa said when no one else spoke. “With Silas dead and Liz talking back her powers, she needs someone to protect her.”Everything Melissa was saying made sense, but it didn't sit right. It all felt too messy to be something that Angelica had come up with. “I don't think it is.” Everyone's eyes snapped to me. “Angelica seems to always have a plan, but turning Lumian into a hybrid just seems to be out of control for her. Hybrids are unpredictable”I didn't know much about hybrids, only what I'd read in books. Until today, I'd never met one, but what I did know is that a ne
Lumian’s POVMy hand tightened around her throat. I could feel her weak and fragile bones beneath my fingers, slowly crushing. Her pulse thudded wildly under my grip, and every beat of it sent a fresh wave of hunger crashing through my body.The smell of blood filled the cave, wrapping around my senses. I couldn't think clearly.My fingers twitched, making my grip tighten without me thinking about it, and Angelica’s body jerked as the last of the air in her lungs escaped in a strangled gasp.Good.Let her suffer.Let her feel what it was like to have someone stronger than her decide if she lived or died.“You promised me,” I snarled, my voice echoing through the cave. The words ripped out of my throat like they had claws. “You said if I took you, she would come.”My head pounded.My heart slammed violently against my ribs as the power inside me surged again. It moved through my veins like fire. Every second, it felt like my body was trying to tear itself apart just to contain it.My
Angelica’s POVThe cave receded of wet stone and decay. The cold, damp air seeped into my weak, brittle bones. The air was stale, and every breath I took left a foul taste in my mouth. I had stopped trying to count how long I had been here.Time meant nothing in a place like this.There was no sun.No moon.No sound of life outside.Just darkness… and the slow, humiliating weakness spreading through my body. My hand gripped the stone wall beside me as I forced myself to stand. a wave of dizziness crashing through my head as I did. My knees buckled slightly, but I refused to fall.I would not die on the floor of some pathetic cave.Not like this.Not powerless and weak.My breathing was heavy as I slowly made my way toward the door of the cave. The faint light spilling through the cracks around the massive boulder at the entrance was the only thing breaking the darkness.Lumian had sealed it shut himself. His smug face flashed through my head as he rolled the rock into place. It sent
Arthur’s POVGuilt ran through me like fire. I had left her alone. I hadnt felt her fear or anything. I could have lost her. Everyone else in the room had their eyes locked onto the crystal and the map, but my eyes stayed on Liz. How could I have been so careless? The crystal dropped onto the map. The second it did, Liz stepped forward. “No, that can't be right. He said,” Liz said.I moved towards the table, looking down at the crystal, the chain still in Melissa's steady hand, as the crystal slowly moved along the map, drawing a line with it. She was here in the palace's grounds for a split second. Relief washed over me, but it was drowned out faster than it came. Lumian had told Liz that he had her.If Alice were here, then he could be too. My wolf growled low and dangerous in my chest, and I held it in. “He had her,” Liz went on. My eyes went back to her face. I could see her thinking, I could see her piecing the pieces together. Liz leaned closer over the table suddenly. Her
Robert’s POV “Get your hands off me! You’re all fools! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill every last one of you—” Her screams bounced off the dungeon walls, followed by the heavy thud of boots and the drag of chains.I stood frozen, the sound of her voice cracking something inside me.Judy.For so long, t
Lumian’s POVI couldn’t take it anymore.The sound of Gabe’s voice. The way he said her name. The way he described it like it was just something that happened. A series of mistakes he couldn’t help. A story that didn’t belong to me. Or to her.I stood up before I realised I was moving. My chair sc
Lumian’s POVThe light in the corridor burned far too bright.My head throbbed with each step, a dull, angry pulse right behind my eyes. The aftertaste of whiskey clung to the back of my throat, sour and stale. I hadn’t meant to drink that much last night, but what else was there to do? The silenc
Gabe’s POVI woke up with the taste of blood in my mouth.It was metallic and bitter, sticking to the back of my throat like regret. My vision swam as I blinked, the world tilting sideways before it snapped back into place. I was lying on a bed I didn’t recognise, in a room that smelled like antis







