LOGINMy pace slowed.I was close.The grove opened ahead of me, circular and impossibly quiet. The ground was covered in dead moss. Stones lined the perimeter, carved with symbols so ancient they seemed to hum.And in the center, she stood.The dark priestess.Tall. Shrouded in a veil of black. Skin like
CASSANDRADerek knows.The thought pounded in my head like a war drum, louder than the creaking floorboards beneath my feet as I stumbled back inside my cottage. I couldn’t breathe. My skin was ice. I gripped the edge of the counter like the world might slide out from under me if I let go.He knows.
"As a matter of fact," I said slowly, "it was."She nodded. "That was from one of my favorite shirts. My mother was furious when she saw that I’d torn a piece from it."The air went out of my lungs.Her favorite shirt.I blinked, trying to picture that day clearly. Cassandra had been there—that much
DEREKI didn’t move.Didn’t nod. Didn’t speak.I just stood there, letting her see it in my face. Because yeah—it was me.Every call, every closed-door meeting, every favor I cashed in to fast-track the permits they needed before anyone could find a reason to stall or block it. I’d done all of it. Q
DEREKThe crowd had already begun to gather when I arrived.The courtyard in front of the new Rogue Foundation was cordoned off with velvet rope and lined with silver-and-navy banners. The city's emblem flew alongside Moonstone’s and Red Ridge’s on tall flagpoles, and a heavy length of ribbon stretc
DEREKThe growl of the four-wheeler under me did nothing to quiet the growl inside my chest.I’d been patrolling for hours.The wind whipped against my jacket, tugging at the collar as I tore down another ridgeline, the sun low and angry behind me. Dust kicked up behind the tires in plumes. My hands
DEREKI had called every day that week.Sometimes twice. Once just after breakfast, and once again after dinner when I knew she might be home. And four times out of five, it wasn’t Elena who picked up the phone.It was Aiden.Not that I minded talking to him—I looked forward to it—but it gnawed at m
“Isn’t it?”He shook his head slowly, expression unreadable. “I’m trying, Elena.”I nodded. “So am I.”But the rest of dinner dragged like an anchor. Our conversation never quite recovered. I couldn’t decide if I was more frustrated with him or with myself—for hoping things might go back to the way
ELENAI had really looked forward to tonight.I’d picked out my dress earlier in the week—something soft, not too formal. Light blue, with flutter sleeves and a cinched waist. I even dabbed on perfume, something floral and subtle—nothing I would’ve dared wear back when I was a rogue, when every scen
DEREKThe phone clicked as the line disconnected.I sat back in my chair, staring at nothing for a beat. That had been the fifth call this morning—same story as the others. A smiling denial, a deflection, or worse: radio silence. All tied to the Rogue Foundation permits.You’d think someone was purp







