MasukI 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
NataliaThe hurt that flashed across Andrei’s face was immediate and devastating. His arms dropped from around my waist, and he took a step back as if I’d physically slapped him.“I see.” His jaw tightened. “I didn’t realize I needed permission to visit my children.”I passed my hands over my face.
NataliaMax felt smaller than usual in my arms as I carefully lowered myself into the rocking chair in his room. His fever had spiked again, and even though Grace had assured me this was normal for childhood bugs, seeing my little one in so much discomfort made my heart ache.“Sing the moon song, Mo
Natalia & AndreiNataliaThe nightmare ripped me from sleep like claws dragging me up from dark water. My heart was racing a mile a minute as I gasped awake, sweat cooling on my skin despite the warm night air.It was the same dream as always—careening over the cliff in that car, the icy lake rushin
NataliaMy stomach dropped as the photographers, apparently having somehow heard of my return to Moonshadow, crowded closer to Andrei’s car. This was exactly what I’d been afraid of. What had I been thinking, bringing the twins here? They didn’t deserve to be hounded by reporters just because their







