Mag-log inThe 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
AgnesThe moment Thea screamed, Elijah’s eyes snapped open. He was out of bed in an instant, not bothering with clothes. I scrambled after him, grabbing his discarded t-shirt from the floor and yanking it over my head as I rushed to follow.My heart pounded in my chest as we raced down the hallway,
“I’m making mine with pineapple,” she announced, which sparked a good-natured debate between her and Elijah about whether pineapple belonged on pizza.I stayed out of it, content to watch them banter as I chopped vegetables and grated cheese.After dinner—the pizza was probably the best I’d ever had
It was indeed spicy, but in a pleasant way that bloomed across my tongue rather than burning it. I chased it with another sip of wine, feeling the tension from earlier slowly melt away.We talked about everything and nothing as we ate—Thea’s upcoming school year, my designs for a new clothing line,
AgnesThe rain came down in one big sheet, soaking us to the bone in mere seconds. Elijah’s hand locked with mine, and we bolted beneath the nearest dock, laughing.As we sought shelter beneath the dock, I wrapped my arms around myself, shivering slightly. I could feel my nipples, hard and pebbled f







