LOGIN“Do you remember what he looked like?”“It’s all a blur. Sorry.”I nodded slowly, looking around again. I spotted Max on the other side of the yard, returning to his work with a group of other males.“What’s the labor for?” I asked. “Are we building something?”“We think it’s for an army. The stone
Natalia’s POVBy the end of the first hour, my shoulders were burning and my palms had gone from sore to numb. The rock I’d been assigned to break with a heavy pickaxe was dense and black, and I was expected to break it into small pieces, then place them on a large wagon. One of those awful gray thi
A pair of figures crossed our path as we walked across the roadway. We fell into step behind them naturally, matching their pace. Neither of them looked back.The water trough was near the center of the settlement. I spotted a short line of people standing in front of it. It wasn’t running water, bu
Natalia’s POVI jerked awake with a gasp.The red sky was the same as it always was. Max was curled on his side a few feet away, still asleep, his chest rising and falling slowly. Nothing had moved. Nothing had changed.I pressed my hand flat against the ground and steadied my breathing.The vision
Natalia’s POVThe report came back the following morning. I’d hardly slept that night, which was strange for me; usually, sleep came quickly and efficiently, serving purely as a means to regain my energy for another day of hard work.But last night, I kept tossing and turning. That pull in my chest
“It’s no use!” I heard her voice call after me. “He’s already gone, you stupid bitch! He’s not who you think he is anymore! You’ll all die here!”Her words struck me somewhere deep and painful, but I kept running. We didn’t stop until the hovel was well out of sight. Only then, once we were certain
NATALIAI’d been injured before when my car fell from the cliff—cuts, bruises, and fractured rib—but something about this time felt different.Maybe it was the way the pain lingered beneath my skin like a warning, a slow burn of vulnerability I couldn’t shake. Or maybe it was the gnawing weight in m
NATALIAIt was a strange thing, planning your own funeral.There was no playbook for it. No checklist. No eulogy to write. Just decisions to make in hushed tones—what kind of coffin, what kind of crowd, what kind of lies would be carved into the stone.I sat across from Damon in the study, the morni
I knew what Andrei was doing: he was just trying to seduce me to get me to admit the truth, because he knew I wasn’t telling him everything.Well, he wasn’t going to get what he wanted. Not now, and not ever.Composing myself, I pulled back just before his lips could meet mine and said firmly, “It’
She continued to talk.“If you don’t finish this,” she said quietly, “I will.”The line disconnected with a sharp beep.For a long moment, she stood by the hearth, breathing heavily.I lifted up a picture frame to dust under it, trying to quell my nerves. But my palms were slick with nervous sweat,







