LOGINIRIS POV:"Doesn't seem to me your Lycan boy made it out." Nicholas laughed.I kept my face down, staring at the floor. I was not going to give him the pleasure of seeing my tears.I noticed Diana shift beside him.It was clear she didn't know what happened or what Nicholas had made happen."Look at me when I speak to you, Iris." Nicholas commanded.I ignored him and kept my face down.His footsteps moved closer to the bars.I raised my head slowly and looked at him. "So you brought me here so I could see your face? Well, you look great, Nicholas." I said flatly.He laughed. "I am glad you noticed.""I am actually surprised to see you. Fiona promised she would take care of you and Aurelian." he said. "I wonder why she didn't. Well, maybe I will. Maybe I'll do the dirty work myself." he said, stepping closer to me.I stood up from the cot. "You don't scare me, Nicholas."Diana was watching, and she wasn't comfortable. Her eyes kept moving between us.Diana frowned. "What do you mean by
IRIS 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:I didn’t get to answer.Aurelian’s mouth was on mine before the last word left his lips, no hesitation. His hand cupped the back of my neck, pulling me into him as he walked me backward through the quiet corridor. My spine hit the cool marble edge of the wide sink counter, the white porc
IRIS POV:My mother was dressed neatly, bag on her arm, her good shoes on.She looked at me properly, then crossed the room and kissed me once on the cheek."Hold your head up in there," she said quietly.Then she picked up her keys and walked out the door, and I heard her car start and pull away f
IRIS POV:We were still upstairs going through my wardrobe when I heard the front door open downstairs.My mother's voice called out from the hallway."Iris? Sarah's car is outside, are you both home?""Upstairs, Mum," I called back.Her footsteps came up the stairs, and she appeared at the bedroom
IRIS POV:I got home, dropped my jacket on the chair, and sat on the sofa.Diane's voice was still in my head. That laugh. The way she had looked at my jacket and the café behind me like they confirmed everything she already thought about me.Bring him if he's real.I picked up my phone.I found Au







