LOGINIRIS POV:My mother stood up and walked to the window, looking out."There are cars everywhere," she said. "Men in uniform.""Mum, step back from the window," I said.She stepped back.Serah was already moving toward the hallway, looking toward the front door."We can go out the back," Serah said."And go where?" I said. "They said the property is surrounded.""Then we stay inside," my mother said firmly. "Nobody is taking my daughter out of my house.""Mum…""Nobody," she repeated.A knock came at the front door.The three of us stood still.Then another knock came again."Miss Calloway, we are authorised to enter by force if you do not comply."My mother looked at me.Staying in here was not going to end well. They would break the door down, and I didn't want that happening in my mother's house. I didn't want these men inside these walls."Don't open it," Serah said quietly."If I don't, they come in anyway," I said. "And Mum is here."Serah looked at me."Iris," she said."Stay wit
IRIS POV:The drive home was long and quiet.Serah kept her eyes on the road the whole time. She didn't ask me anything. She didn't try to fill the silence. She just drove, and I sat in the passenger seat and watched the streets pass outside the window.I had stopped crying somewhere on the highway. Not because I felt better. Just because there was nothing left to come out.When we turned into my street, my chest tightened.Serah parked and turned off the engine."You ready?" she asked."No," I said."Don't worry, you are," she said, and opened her door.I got out.I walked to the front door and knocked. I didn't have my key. I didn't have anything.I heard footsteps inside.Then the door opened and my mother stood there in her house clothes. She looked at me.Her face was filled with shock and relief. She stepped forward and pulled me into her arms.“Iris, oh my baby, I thought I would never see you again after I was told you were taken.”I didn't plan to cry again. I genuinely thoug
IRIS POV:My eyes opened. I was still in the same room, but the white gas was gone. The air was clear. I was sitting on the floor with my back against the glass wall.I heard a soft click.Then the glass slid down slowly in front of me like a panel lowering into the floor, and the room opened up.Aurelian stepped through. He crouched down in front of me and slid one arm under mine, lifting me up from the floor. He walked me to the chair in the corner and lowered me into it carefully.I didn't fight him. I didn't have the energy.He crouched in front of me again, his elbows on his knees, and looked at my face for a long moment."How do you feel?" he asked quietly."Like I've been knocked out twice in one day," I laughed a little.He smiled and nodded slowly.The room was quiet. I could hear Serah somewhere behind him, standing near the wall, but she was not saying anything."Do you remember?" he asked. "Everything. From before Cassian. From before the cell. Do you remember how it actua
IRIS POV:My eyes opened slowly.Cassian's scream still lingered in my head. What did Aurelian do to him?I stared at the ceiling. It was unfamiliar. I sat up slowly, my head felt very heavy. I looked around the room. It was clean and completely empty. Three solid walls surrounded me, and the last wall was glass that looked like a mirror. I could only see my own reflection staring back at me. I couldn't see anything behind it.I didn't know this place.I swung my legs off the bed and stood up slowly. I waited until the room stopped shifting, then walked toward the glass.Then it changed.My reflection blurred for a second, and the glass turned completely clear.I froze.There was a room on the other side. Aurelian was standing with his arms folded, watching me. Behind him were his men. And then I saw Serah, standing slightly apart, her hand wrapped tight around Stephen's arm.My breath caught.Stephen looked pale.I pressed my hand flat against the glass and stared at all of them.Wha
IRIS POV:I stood there, terrified. Cassian's eyes left the man on the floor and found me at the top of the stairs.His face shifted the moment he saw me."Iris," he said, his eyes widening. "I said you should stay in no matter what you heard.""I… I…" Stammering, I took a step backward.Aurelian's golden eyes moved from Cassian's face to mine.Then back to Cassian, then he smiled."Iris, run!" Cassian commanded.Before I could move, Aurelian lunged, hitting Cassian, both of them crashing into the wall. The entire room shook from the impact.Aurelian's jaws clamped onto Cassian's shoulder."Aurelian, stop," I shouted, but he didn't listen.Cassian grabbed Aurelian by the neck, but Aurelian twisted his whole body and threw him. Cassian hit the floor and slid, knocking over a table.Aurelian then looked at me, taking a step closer to the stairs.My heart skipped a beat. I didn't think, I ran, my legs carrying me back up the stairs and down the hallway.My breathing was loud in my ears.
IRIS POV:“When do you want to leave, Iris?” Cassian asked, folding his arms and resting on the door frame.“Leave? I don't plan to leave, Cassian. I want to stay. I want to stay with you.” I smiled, biting my lip.I lay back on the bed, stretching my body slowly across the soft sheets. My eyes stayed on him, that strange warm feeling still pulling me toward him.Cassian watched me for a moment, then pushed off the door frame and walked closer. He climbed onto the bed slowly, his body moving over mine like a predator. He lowered himself until his chest pressed against me.He kissed me. I moaned softly and kissed him back, my hands moving up to his shoulders.Suddenly, the sharp sound of gunshots echoed from somewhere outside the room, loud and rapid.Cassian froze. He pulled back instantly, standing beside the bed in one smooth motion.“Stay inside,” he ordered. “Don’t come out no matter what you hear.”Before I could say anything, he turned and ran out of the room, slamming the door
IRIS POV:The room was quiet.He was still looking at me from across it.I turned back to the window and looked at the city lights below, trying to find something to say or somewhere to put my hands or any reason at all to keep looking away from him.I couldn't find one.I turned back around.He sm
IRIS POV:We were barely through the door when I heard it."Iris."Nicholas's voice.I kept walking, pretending not to hear."Iris." Louder this time.Aurelian and I moved faster down the corridor, the same glass hallway we had walked through when we arrived, the ocean visible on both sides."Iris,
IRIS POV:Every eye in the room was on me.I felt them all. Lycans, Alphas, Valdren, Caius, Aurelian's sisters, Darian, Seraphine. All of them looking at the woman who had just pushed back her chair in a room where nobody had the courage to even speak.Aurelian went very still beside me.I looked a
IRIS POV:Caius looked down the table."The first matter," he said. "Edran."Edran straightened in his seat. He was three chairs down from Caius on the left side, and when he spoke, his voice sounded a bit furious, but he hid it."The northern coastal boundary," he said. "The Virex holdings have be







