LOGINThe house is still mostly empty. With bare walls, uncovered windows, and the faint scent of fresh wood and plaster in the air, but I’ve never loved a place more.Sunlight spills across the light oak floorboards, warming the space like it’s already lived in. There’s no furniture yet, just a few unpac
** Harper’s POV **Back at our apartment on the military base, I start to pack up our few belongings. It feels surreal that we will be back at the academy by evening. Although our academy apartment is so much nicer, I’m still kind of sad to say goodbye to this place. We may not have been here long,
**Harper’s POV **We pick our way back through the decaying house, and I hope I never have to step foot in a place like this again.The air is thick with the scent of mould and blood, and just ahead, I see the rectangle of light that is our freedom. The open doorway, where there’s fresh air. I’m abo
** Harper’s POV **“Your fear doesn’t justify the blood you spilled,” I say, stepping forward, voice steady even though my hands are shaking. “You tried to erase people to fix a mistake you made, but we are not your mistake.”“You don’t understand,” he says weakly.“I understand more than you think,
** Harper’s POV **“How are you alive? Didn’t you die like hundreds of years ago?” Finn asks.“I did,” Elias nods. “They executed me for my actions, and it was just. I was messing with things I never should have touched, but the damage was already done. When they found me and took all my research, i
** Harper’s POV **“Is this our location?” Deacon asks, stepping up to study the screen.“That’s where I saw him. He’s bleeding, weak, and alone. This is our chance to finish this,” I say.Finley, Luke and a few of Raff’s men than have filed in step up to study the screen. Getting a good look at the
** Harper’s POV **Out at the training field, Raff waits, looking bored.“Took you long enough,” he huffs.“You said twenty minutes. It’s been exactly nineteen,” Finley says.“Listen, kid, if I say twenty minutes, then I expect you here in fifteen, understood.”“Then say fifteen, boss,” Theo’s cheer
** Finley’s POV **I lean back on the coffee table and try not to say anything wildly inappropriate. Which, for me, is harder than it should be.There’s just something about being surrounded by this much tension. Like actual, legitimate tension, not just the kind I stir up for fun, that makes my bra
** Harper’s POV **Knox’s kiss is different from the others. It’s not better or worse, just his. It’s slower, deeper, and feels more like a worship. I guess being dead gives moments like this so much more meaning. Each kiss, each look, each word could be our last.His hands settle on my hips, ground
** Harper’s POV **“You will break,” she says softly. “In small ways. That’s what growing up feels like. Pieces of you have to break off to reveal the version of you that you’re meant to be.”I swallow hard, blinking back the tears. “What if I don’t like the version that comes next?”“Then you forgi







