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
AgnesWhen Richard was finished laying out the plan he had conceived, I could only blink at him in shock.“No.” Elijah’s voice was hard as steel. “You are not using my mate and daughter as decoys. That’s out of the question.”“Elijah—” Richard started.“No,” Elijah repeated, standing up so fast his
But she had only taken the stone.Did that mean she intended to come back for us at some point? I wasn’t sure. A tiny voice in the back of my head whispered that she had left us alone because, at some point during her temporary employment, perhaps she had started to care about us.But I knew that wa
The three of us exchanged looks. This man was clearly a pawn. He’d been kept in the dark about everything except this specific task.“You’re sure they didn’t mention anything else?” I asked, my voice softening if only to urge him to share anything else he might know. “Did they say why the toy was so
AgnesI stared at my father, my mouth hanging open. He’d just told us to destroy the facility. All of it. With everyone inside.“No. There has to be another way,” I choked out. “We can’t just… we can’t kill innocent people.”My father’s face remained grim. “You think I haven’t considered that? You t







