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
Once I’d wrapped the wrist securely, I helped Lena to her feet. “You should rest. I can handle Thea for the rest of the day.”“I’m okay to keep working,” Lena protested.“Absolutely not,” I said firmly. “You’re injured because of me. The least I can do is give you the rest of the day off.”Lena fina
I pressed my lips together and remained silent, not that it mattered. We both knew the answer to that question, even if I didn’t want to admit it.He sighed. “Agnes, she’s a sick woman…”“Sick women still know things,” I insisted. “I want to know what happened to her out there. Even if only to help
AgnesI padded down the stairs and froze at the bottom.The last person I expected to see standing in our foyer was my stepmother, looking just as immaculate and put-together as she always did. The very sight of her made me want to turn tail and run back up the stairs, especially after what my fathe
AgnesAnd just like that, a mere three days later, we were back in Richard’s territory.Only this time, we hadn’t come alone. We’d brought an entire retinue with us.Thea pressed her nose to the window as our car pulled up the long driveway to Richard’s mansion. Lena sat beside her, pointing out var







