LOGINI stepped forward and took her thin hand in both of mine. Out of habit, my fingers found her pulse. It was slow and steady now, and the sweetest thing I had ever felt.“I’m here, Edith,” I said. “It’s me. Nora.”Edith turned her head toward the sound of my voice, and slowly, her cracked lips curved
Nora’s POVA silence fell over the intensive care room that was so complete that I could hear the clock ticking above the doors.Every head turned toward Kane. Octavia’s brows rose, Dr. Mooney’s mouth fell open slightly, and on the floor, Damian’s face paled further as he dragged a hand through his
She frowned and opened it.Inside, someone had cut a small square hollow into the last of the pages. Tucked inside of that was a tiny glass vial, empty now but still coated with a thin purplish residue, with a label stuck to its side. In neat black letters straight from the medicine storeroom, it re
Nora’s POVKane reached the glass door first and threw it open for me. I raced past him into the corridor with his cloak still tangled around my shoulders. The bell was even louder inside, clanging off the stone walls and bringing adepts and novices alike out of the various rooms lining the halls. B
I stared at him.My mind went back to that night: the fire burning low, the cross-stitch hoop on the coffee table, Olivia’s cold hands wrapped around mine. I had believed every word she said. I had trusted her more than almost anyone.“Why didn’t you tell me?” I whispered.“Because she’s my mother.”
Nora’s POVEdith was lying on her side, facing the window, her thin gray hair spread across the pillow. In the dim light, she looked even smaller than she did during the day, hardly more than a bump under the blankets.I put the flowers in a small water jug from the storeroom and arranged them as be
Nora"I was at the diner," I said. "They needed an extra hand for the dinner rush."It was the same lie I always told. Until now, it had always been enough.Victor didn't move. "You think I can't smell him?"The floor seemed to tip sideways under my feet.I had scrubbed that room until my hands crac
Nora"Lily." I cut her off before the name could leave her mouth. "Enough."She looked up at me, confused, but went quiet. She knew that voice.I couldn't let her say Victor's name.Victor was an Alpha. His word ran this whole territory, and Kane was young, half-healed, and still a stranger here. If
KaneI came awake the way I'd been trained to. Hands first, eyes second.Someone had stepped into the room. My body decided she was a threat before my mind got a vote.I had her against the wall before I understood I was standing. My fingers found a throat. Small. A pulse slamming under my thumb.Th
NoraI had gotten good at hiding.Six years will do that. Six years of folding myself and my little sister into closets and crawl spaces every time Victor came home drunk.Tonight, my stepfather was drunker than usual.I pressed my hand over Lily's mouth and felt her breath shake against my palm. Sh







