LOGINWhen dinner was over, the family scattered throughout the house.
Elaine excused herself to go up to her room for a moment, claiming she was tired, though I knew, through our bond, that she also needed a moment alone to process the day.
I waited half an hour before going up after her.
I found her by the window, with moonlight streaming in in silvery streaks across the floor, gazing out at the dark forest with her
ArselThe first official dinner with Harper as my two sons’ partner was a disaster.Not because of Harper.Because of my family.Mom prepared enough food for approximately forty people even though there were seventeen of us.Dad brought wine.Isaac and Isaiah placed bets on which of the boys would blush first.Liora questioned Harper about flight protocols for no reason related to the subject.Soren asked w
ElaineTalus died without leaving new ashes behind.For several minutes, no one spoke.I never thought normalcy could feel like a blessing.Arsel rested his forehead against mine.“Can you feel it?”I searched through my connection to Balance.For eighteen years, I had recognized Talus’s trace as an irritation at the edge of the Veil.Sometimes it appeared during a nightmare.
ElianTalus still had one final choice.I understood it when the ground opened.He chose to steal another existence and lunged toward Harper.There was no magic left in his body, but he still had training, desperation, and a null-metal knife hidden beneath his sleeve.Kael moved first.So did I.We hit Talus from opposite sides.The knife grazed my arm.It burned like fire, but null metal did not burn magic.It forced it into silence.My connection with the ground disappeared from my shoulder to my fingertips, and Talus hit me with surprising strength for an o
KaelNine names.Ren could smell Talus.That was the first thing that made me realize Dad was right.The warlock was becoming mortal.Before, he smelled like emptiness, metal, old magic, and hundreds of people layered over one another. Now, beneath all of that, there was sweat, blood, fear.A man.Harper stood between Elian and me.The bonds had returned, separated just as Dad explained. I could feel her presence with an intensity that almost hurt. I could not enter her emotions or read her mind. I only knew where she was and that something inside me recognized her as a possible home.Possible.The word mattered.Talus was still standing over the altar.“The first name,” he said, “belongs to a girl who died two hundred years ago. If you return it, it will go nowhere.”Mom raised the medallion.
ArselMy sons’ bonds exploded through the family network like two bolts of lightning searching for the same point.Harper fell to her knees.Kael and Elian did too.My body’s immediate response was to run toward them, but Elaine grabbed me.“Wait.”“They’re suffering.”“Talus wants us to intervene.”I could feel Kael through the pack bond.Desire.Fear.The need to touch Harper.And a savage fury because Elian felt the same.Not fury toward his brother.Fury at the situation.Elian was different.His pain folded inward, trying to make itself smaller so he would not put pressure on anyone.Talus had identified both patterns precisely.“Kael,” I said through the family link. “Do not occupy the decision.”My son breathed.“Elian, do not disappear from her,” Elaine added.Elian lifted his head.Harper was in the center.The black mark was absorbing energy from both bonds and sending it toward the altar.Talus was using the mate bonds as conduits.“Amelie,” I called.“I can’t block them ag
ElaineFifty names.Talus could no longer travel.That did not mean he was weak.It meant he had concentrated three centuries of survival, fear, and stolen magic into a single place.The petrified forest looked like a photograph of the world after death. Gray trunks rose without leaves. The ground was covered in compacted ash. Even the wind did not enter naturally, it bent around the area as if it remembered something we had forgotten.I felt the Balance twist.“This place isn’t dead,” I said.Amelie looked at me.“What do you feel?”“Something contained.”Selene extended a hand.Electricity crackled and died before reaching a tree.“Ancient cancellation magic.”Belial appeared beside a rock.There was no spectacle, he was simply there, and Soren almost crashed into him.“Fuck.”“Language,” Selene said automatically.Soren looked at her.“Grandma, the Devil just appeared out of nowhere.”Belial raised an eyebrow.“Acceptable defense.”Despite the tension, several people laughed.The G
ElaineI opened my eyes, and the white lights blinded me again.I swallowed hard when I found myself in another hospital room, on a much larger and more comfortable bed, but with my arms hooked up to IVs. That was a complete reality check.Shit, it’s real, I thought in horror.I had lost my memorie
Elaine“When did he find out?” I asked as I stepped on the gas pedal out of fear.I couldn't help the feeling of unease and revulsion I felt at that moment, but I had to get as far away from my tormentor as I could.“About an hour ago,” Kris said seriously. “Your mother called the orphanage asking
ElaineAt that moment, fear consumed me.I had no idea how Maxon could have found the ticket because he never touched dirty laundry due to his OCD about cleanliness. So seeing him standing in front of me, ticket in hand, dashed every last bit of hope I had.“What the hell is this, Elaine?” Maxon as
ElaineI looked at the bruise covering my cheek.It was the latest addition to an endless list of bruises that marked my skin, and I wondered when my life had turned into a living hell.A year ago, everything was normal, but one night, when my father's decisions took a new turn, reality changed abr







