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
It wasn’t until later that afternoon, when the office had quieted down a bit, that I spotted the designer Elijah had mentioned. I found her sitting at her desk, working on what looked like another sketch.“Hi,” I said softly, and she jumped slightly, her wide eyes darting up to meet mine. “Sorry, I
AgnesI woke up to the sensation of something small and warm nuzzled against my belly. Looking down, a small smile touched my lips.Thea.She was fast asleep, her hair a tangled mess around her face and her teddy bear squished between us. She must have crawled into bed at some point when I was recov
Agnes & ElijahAgnesThe first thing I noticed was the dull, throbbing ache behind my eyes. It pulsed with every beat of my heart, like a rhythmic reminder of the drugs coursing through my veins.The second thing I noticed was the nausea. My stomach churned violently as if I was stuck at sea, and as
AgnesThe officer at the desk stared up at us for a moment, his eyes flicking back and forth between me and Elijah. My pulse was pounding a mile a minute beneath my skin in that weighted silence, and I immediately regretted coming here. I regretted it even more when the officer said those next words







