LOGINDom She adjusted her lab coat and looked at the brown bundle I had placed on her workbench. "So," she said, her voice turning sharp and professional, "you didn't just come to see if I was still breathing. What is this, Dom?" "I need you to run a full analysis," I said. I leaned against the edge of a steel table. "It’s a tea. That's what it's supposed to be, though." She leaned over the bundle. She didn't open it yet. She just took a deep, careful sniff of the air around the cloth. Her nose wrinkled instantly. "Hmm," she hummed, her eyes narrowing behind her safety glasses. "It smells like Vantige. Heavily concentrated. I can smell the metallic bite from here." She was that sharp girl. "I know it has Vantige in it," I said, my voice dropping an octave. "But there's more. At least that's what I feel like," I said, purposely omitting the fact that this tea bleaches clothes. I wanted her to make those findings herself, or at least confirm my own internal knowledge. Lyra looked a
Dom Two days later… I stood behind my door. I was listening. I knew the rhythm of this house. I knew the heavy step of the guards and the light, hurried pitter-patter of the maids. But now, I heard something else. A soft, uneven step. A kind of step someone took when they were nervous. Knock. Knock. I didn't wait. I pulled the door open. Stella was standing there. Her face was flushed pink, and she was breathing like she had just run a marathon. Her eyes darted left and right, checking the empty hallway before she ducked inside. "Beta," she whispered. Her voice was thin and shaky. "I did it. I actually did it." She reached into the pocket of her apron. Her hand was trembling so much I could hear the fabric rustle. She pulled out a small bundle. It was wrapped in a piece of heavy, dark cloth, tied tight with a piece of twine. "Here," she said, thrusting it toward my chest. "This is it. This is the stuff." I took the bundle. It was heavier than I expected. It felt dens
Dom. The roar of the bike finally died down. The silence that followed was heavy, broken only by the ticking of the cooling engine and the distant whistle of the wind. We were at the edge of the palace. I stayed by the bike, my boots crunching on the loose gravel. Diane didn’t wait for me. She walked straight to the rusted iron railing at the very edge. She looked so small against the vast sky. Her simple flared gown whipped around her legs in the cold breeze. I shouldn't have gone to her room. I should have just stayed back and minded my business. But I couldn't. After hours of not seeing her, I moved in there. Because I knew that those glasses hovering in her eyes in that breakfast room—I knew they would have broken into a million pieces in her room. Right now, all I had to do was bring her here so she could feel air and not suffocate inside that large luxury room. I was standing five paces behind, as always. "Are you okay?" I asked, my voice rough in the open air. She didn'
Diane.The bedroom door clicked shut, but the sound of my own screaming still echoed in my ears. I was alone. Truly alone. I stood in the center of the vast, cold room, my hands shaking so violently I had to grip the edge of the mahogany bedpost to stay upright.I felt like a stranger in my own skin. The way I had looked at Freda—the pure, mindless hate I had felt—it wasn't me. I knew it. But the medical report didn't lie. And this, this was evidence.I sank onto the edge of the bed. My legs gave out. I curled my knees to my chest, becoming a small, broken ball of grief. The tears came then—not the quiet, royal kind, but hot, streaming tracks of salt that burned my cheeks."I'm going crazy," I whispered into the empty air. My voice cracked, sounding small and hollow. "I'm losing it. Right in front of the whole world."I thought of Dom. He had seen me snap twice.He saw me snap over grains of sugar.He saw me snap in the boardroom. How many more outbursts until they had me locked away?
DomI walked back to my quarters, my boots feeling heavy on my own legs. My mind was a mess. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw that black fabric turning white. I saw Diane’s glassy eyes. I saw the way she looked at her own hands after she screamed at Freda—like she was a stranger in her own skin.I reached my door and gripped the handle, ready to disappear into the silence of my room to think."Dom? Is that you?"A small, sweet, annoying, familiar voice called.I paused, my hand tightening on the brass knob. I took a breath, forcing the "soldier" mask back onto my face before I turned around.Stella was lingering in the hallway. She was leaning against the wall, twirling a strand of her hair. She looked like she had been waiting for a while. She was holding a small basket covered with a linen cloth."How are you doing, big guy?" she asked, walking toward me with a bright smile. "You look like you’ve been carrying the weight of the world all morning.""I'm fine, Stella," I said. My vo
DomThe morning light in the breakfast room was too bright. It hit the white marble table and the silver cutlery, making everything look clean and perfect.I stood in my usual spot, five feet behind Diane’s chair. My hands were folded behind my back. My face was a mask of cold stone. After the "girlfriend" lie in the car yesterday, Diane had not been face-friendly with me.Diane sat at the head of the table. She wasn't eating. She was just staring at a plate of sliced fruit like it had insulted her."Where were you last night, Dom?" she asked, with a sharp voice that cut through the silence of the room."I was out, Luna," I replied. I didn't move an inch.She turned her head, her eyes flashing with a dangerous light. "You didn't ask for permission. You are my lead guard. You don't just disappear when the sun goes down.""My contract doesn't state that I need to ask for permission to have a life outside these walls, Luna," I said, trying to keep my voice level, calm, and completely fla
Diane.It was evening already, and it was time for me to go out.I dried myself off and got dressed. I chose a simple outfit because I didn't want to draw attention. I was going to meet Celine. I needed answers, and I needed to work on it now.I walked down the stairs, my heels clicking on the floo
Diane "The Beta, Where is his suite?" I asked a passing maid.She stopped and bowed low. "The Beta's suite, Luna? It’s prepared at the far end of the west wing.""Thank you," I said.I turned and headed toward the west wing. It was a part of the house I rarely visited. It was quiet and secluded. A
Diane"Hello?""Hello, Diane," he said. His voice was warm and deep, like a memory of better times. "How are you, child? How is your health?"I blinked, kind of confused. "I'm fine, Uncle Anthor. I’m doing okay. And you?”“I’m fine. This old man is striving. But it's about you this morning. How are
Debbie.After driving for a few long minutes, we pulled up to the small, quiet bar on the edge of town.Yes, I knew I talked about us going to a cafe, but then we are here. It was a scope to see if this man was going to let me be. Turns out was a leech sent by Julian to monitor me.It was the kind







