LOGINSERAPHINA“We are going to be late.” Aurora said, as her voice carried down the hallway. I could hear her pacing around outside as she was no doubt trying to make sure everything was absolutely right and perfect.I was still in my room, standing in front of the mirror, adjusting an earring I’d already adjusted three times, my hands trembling just enough to irritate me.“I’m coming,” I called back, even though I hadn’t moved yet.“You said that five minutes ago,” she shot back. “This is an exhibition, Sera. People are actually coming to see my work.”I grabbed my clutch and stepped out, locking my bedroom door behind me. Aurora stood by the front door in a navy-blue dress that made her look healthier than she had in months. There was color in her cheeks now and I could tell that she was getting back to how she was a couple of years ago.She looked absolutely beautiful that it still caught me off guard sometimes.“You look so beautiful.” I said, as I looked at her.“You look nervous,”
TRISTAN“You’re lucky,” the doctor said, flipping through the chart at the foot of my bed. “Very lucky.”I leaned back against the raised pillows, ignoring the dull ache that pulsed through my side every time I breathed too deeply. “Lucky isn’t a word I’ve ever relied on,” I replied.He sighed now, as he continued to stare at me a little bit.“That said, we need to keep you under close surveillance for at least five days.”“Five days?” I scoffed. “That’s not happening.”The doctor looked up at me sharply. “Mr. Blackwell…”“I want to leave right now.” I said,“You know there is no way that we can allow you do that.” He replied with a stern look. “We still need to run some tests.”“Fine,” I cut in. “I’ll stay twenty-four hours for you to run whatever tests you want. After that, I’m leaving.”His lips pressed into a thin line. “You do know that this isn’t a hotel that you can chose when to come and when to leave.”“And I’m not a patient who has the luxury of lying around,” I shot back. “
SERAPHINAThe drive to Naomis place from the hospital was one of the longest of my whole life. My mind was filled with so many thoughts which I couldn’t exactly contain. At some point, I considered heading straight to the airport and going back to where Aurora was waiting for me, but I knew that Naomi would have my head if I did that.She was already waiting for me anxiously at her door as I pulled into the driveway.“So,” Naomi said the moment I stepped into her apartment, arms folded as she leaned against the kitchen counter, eyes scanning my face like she was bracing herself, “how is Tristan doing?”I hadn’t realized how much I needed to be in somewhere as familiar as this until my shoulders sagged the second the door closed behind me.“He’s… fine,” I said slowly. “He is recovering.”Naomi frowned as she studied my face over and over again. I had not exactly planned to tell her that I had chickened out of seeing him, but knowing her, she could see through my bullshit right from the
TRISTANPain was the first thing I knew. It felt like I was buried under something I couldn’t see or fight.But then I was so sure I could hear Seraphina’s voice calling for me.I tried to move toward it, but my body wouldn’t respond. I did not even know if I had a body in this place. It felt like I was floating… drifting… stuck between something I couldn’t name.“Seraphina…”The name formed in my mind first then I tried to say it.Nothing happened so I began to panic.Seraphina.This time, it felt louder… like it echoed inside my skull, bouncing against walls that refused to let it out.Where was she?Why couldn’t I reach her?I remembered… a gunshot and Julian’s face. I remembered falling before nothing.Suddenly the darkness shifted and I could hear something… a steady beeping.My body slammed back into existence like it had been dropped from a height.Pain followed immediately. My chest burned. My head throbbed like it was being split open from the inside. My throat felt dry… raw…
3rd POV“I should be asking you that question, don’t you think?” Seraphina said.Violetta let out a soft laugh as she stepped further into the room, the door clicking shut behind her.“Tristan is a friend of the family,” she said smoothly. “So obviously I will be here.”Her gaze swept over Seraphina again, slower this time.“But you…” she continued, her lips curling faintly, “you are irrelevant to his life.”Violetta took another step closer.“Considering that in your own words,” she went on, her tone turning almost conversational, “you used his kindness, got what you wanted and vanished.”“You know nothing of what happened,” Seraphina said.Violetta cut her off.“I know nothing? Darling, Tristan and I have been keeping in touch since you disappeared into the winds and he has told me everything that happened and I must say… you are a terrible person. Do you really think you are the person Tristan wants to see the moment he opens his eyes?”Seraphina stilled.She had not thought of tha
SERAPHINAThe drive to the hospital felt longer than it actually was.I sat in the backseat of Mr. Spek’s car, my hands clenched tightly in my lap, my thoughts louder than the city rushing past outside the window.I thought about the will… the clause that had brough me into Tristan’s life… the reason he had needed to marry was a lie… a carefully orchestrated farce by Julian. But if that clause had never existed then would Tristan and I have happened?I would have just been someone who did not exist in his world.This was always meant to happen somehow.Despite the lies and the manipulation… Tristan Blackwell and I, Seraphina Cross had always been destined to meet.A humorless breath left me.He tried to destroy Tristan… and somehow ended up being the reason I met him.The irony was almost sickening. Too many things had aligned in ways that made no sense otherwise.It was fate or something crueler because if this is fate then why did it feel like everything is trying to tear us apart?.
SERAPHINA“Is Tristan up yet?” I asked, almost as soon as I stepped out of my room the next day.It had been almost impossible to sleep all night, despite how quiet the whole house had been. I had been up staring at the ceiling, thinking about everything that had happened that night. Replaying eve
TRISTAN“Take us home,” I told the driver the moment the door shut behind us. I was in no mood to be at this event for even a second longer and it was very obvious.He simply nodded, as the car pulled away from the curb smoothly. Thankfully, there wasn’t much media outside the event anymore and we
SERAPHINA“She’s here!” I yelled, as I stepped away from the window after seeing the car pull up.I barely made it to the front door before I pulled it open and practically yanked Naomi into the house.She stumbled in, laughing. “Okay, okay, relax. I’m not going anywhere.”We were both laughing at
SERAPHINA“In the event that I need you to talk, you will need to be able to explain things about Requiem.” Tristan said, “How is it coming along now?”The car had just rolled to a stop in front of the Castille estate and I could see the lights from outside already even through the tinted windows.







