LOGINI straightened up. My heart was pounding. I looked around the room and for a single, disorienting moment, I had no idea where I was. The black stone walls, the red sky beyond the window, the dead air of this place—none of it felt right. None of it felt like mine. I felt like a man who had woken up m
Andrei’s POVThe collar of my shirt was pissing me off.I had fastened it twice already and it still insisted on sitting crooked, pulling too tight on the left side. I undid it a third time and redid it, slower, watching my hands in the mirror rather than my own face. My reflection had been botherin
Natalia’s POVHe didn’t hesitate.The moment I swung the rod toward him, his hand shot out and closed around my wrist like a vise. My arm wrenched sideways, and I felt the bones grind together under his grip, and the rod fell. It clattered somewhere on the stone floor, rolling away into the darkness
Andrei’s POVThe room was warm. The bed was soft and plush, the pillows made of feathers and velvet. Everything smelled familiar, the kind of scent that you recognize from a past life but can never put a finger on its source.Home.The woman was laying next to me, just as she always did. Amber hair
But I would do it, because the alternative was my children going through whatever came next, and that was not something I was willing to consider.I wasn’t certain yet. That was the only reason I was still trying so hard now. Because there was still a small part of me that thought that there must be
Natalia’s POVThey came for me after what felt like a full day. I say felt like because it really could have been any amount of time, or none at all. But someone did bring me some slop to eat at some point, so that had to have meant that at least a full cycle had passed.I was on my feet before the
Natalia’s POVThe first thing I noticed when I woke up was the acrid scent of blood in my nostrils. Then came the smell of rotten leaves and dirt.And when I opened my eyes, I didn’t find the dark stairwell, the healer’s chambers, or the ceiling of my bedroom above me.All I saw were thorns. Twisted
I looked back toward the shelter where Max and Jane were still sleeping, then at the three people who had risked their lives to find us. “We need to get back to Bloodmoon. We need to tell my father—”“No.” Celeste shook her head. “You can’t go back there. My mother will try again, and next time she
Natalia’s POVI spent the rest of the morning in bed, sipping water and trying to keep down some dry toast that one of the kitchen staff had brought me. The nausea came and went in waves, but I figured it was just a stomach bug making its rounds through the compound. There was no point in bothering
Celeste’s POVMy arms fell back to my sides as Natalia practically shoved past me with her hand pressed to her mouth, looking for all the world like she was about to vomit.What the hell…?I turned to watch her go, confused. Natalia didn’t look back—just rushed out of the library.My fingers brushed







