LOGINThe crowd continued to applaud as Thea took one final bow before exiting the stage. The moment she was out of sight, Elijah grabbed my hand.“Come on,” he said, already pulling me toward the aisle. “Let’s get backstage before everyone else.”We made our way through the crowd, accepting congratulatio
AgnesEight years had passed by.The concert hall was packed to capacity, not a single empty seat in sight. My spine ached like hell from sitting on the hard wooden chair for the past two hours, and my pregnant belly made it impossible to find a comfortable position. Elijah kept rubbing his neck and
“Mom?” Thea’s voice called. “Everyone’s waiting. Are you ready?”I took one last look in the mirror, adjusted the mask slightly, and turned toward the door.“Ready,” I said, opening it to find my daughter standing there in a midnight blue dress that she had designed herself. Her own mask, shaped lik
AgnesOne year later.I stood in front of my mirror, hardly recognizing the woman staring back at me. Two years. It had been two years since I met Elijah—not counting that foggy night we conceived Thea seven years before that, a night neither of us could fully remember thanks to whatever drugs had b
Initially, I resisted. The thought of sharing my pain with a stranger when I had spent so many years being treated like a madwoman for my trauma scared the hell out of me. But Elijah was persistent, reminding me that we all carried burdens that were too heavy to bear alone.And so, twice a week, we
AgnesThe weeks following the destruction of the Lunaris Stone passed in a blur.Elemental Enterprises, of course, was immediately shut down by the authorities. Every known international law enforcement agency descended on Richard’s territory, working alongside Richard and us to document the crimes
AgnesElijah’s words left my head reeling.“You… sent them away?” I found myself asking. I wasn’t sure why exactly, but for some reason, I couldn’t quite bring myself to fully believe it. Maybe it was because no one in my life, not even my own parents, had ever bothered to go to such lengths for me.
ElijahThea’s laughter rang out through the house as she darted behind the couch. Her stuffed bear, newly dubbed Mr. Snuggles, was clutched tightly in one hand. For my part, I had been tasked with “the hunt”—her words, not mine—and despite the sharp ache in my knees from crawling around on the floor
AgnesTo say that I was satisfied and relieved by Ava’s absence at work would have been putting it lightly. I was far more than satisfied. Far more than relieved.For the first time in a long time, I finally felt… free. And it showed in my work; over the remainder of the week, I developed several mo
A cold chill swept through me, despite the warmth of the blankets. The thought of that man touching me, marking me like some kind of tool for his twisted revenge, made fresh bile rise up in my throat again.“But it didn’t work,” Elijah continued. “I destroyed his phone. None of those photos will eve







