LOGINFor this to end, all I have to do is say “yes.”One word. And no more of this desperation. No more feeling like it’s hard to breathe just because I’m far from someone, the way it was when I was chained by the Council.To be mine again.And then her smile comes, that laugh.I clench my fists and see her perfect face—her soft breathing as she slept on my chest… asking so little of me, when I’d freeze the fucking inferno itself if she wanted.“...you’ll never be a sin. Not to me. Whatever brought you into this world… I’m glad it existed,” she told me.And for the first time in my life, that emptiness I always carried in my chest disappeared.She was the one who filled it.When Arielle called me a buzzkill, saying I’d changed and she wouldn’t want to be in my place, I should’ve told her that before Alexia I was nobody. I had no real purpose.And that no drug, no drink, no woman—not even five or ten of them at once—ever made me feel half as good as her touch does.That somehow, ironically,
Volkov acted alone. No one on this earth can help me find her.So I ditch the car right there on the asphalt and climb down to the thin strip of sand wedged between the rocks on the coast that surrounds the city.The night is cold and wet, but here — with the raw pulse of nature and the absolute solitude — I have my best chance of reaching whoever I need.— Gabriel! — I shout at the sky, every breath in my lungs catching fire. — Where is she?And the waves crash harder against the rocks, spraying over me, mixing my panic with salt and wind. Seagulls scream and dive for food.No answer.— You damned bastard! — I turn the other way, searching for any trace of his light. — Tell me where she is!My body caves. My knees sink into the wet sand, and the pain tearing through my chest forces my torso forward. It feels like someone is ripping my ribs out one by one — I can barely breathe.Rage and helplessness climb my throat like acid.Volkov is going to kill her.And there’s nothing I can do.
For the first time, the world feels right.A child. A family.All I have to do is say out loud that this is what I want.But something pulls me the other way. It feels like a noise under my skin, a sound vibrating at a frequency my mind can’t identify.A feeling that lives outside my awareness but pulses in my nerves, in every bone, humming through my veins every time I close my eyes and focus.And it’s so alive it can only be… love.But love for who?And then I understand it doesn’t need a name or a face — it exists even without presence, even without memory… it doesn’t depend on the physical.It’s born and it pulses… from my soul.And all I know is that it isn’t Caelith living inside my soul. It isn’t his existence that completes mine.Because at the height of pleasure, back in that cabin, that feeling broke through me like my body screaming that the perfect fit comes from another body — another voice, another breath.Another heartbeat syncing with mine.It’s that other person — the
Caelith is asleep beside me and… God, this man is unbelievable even when he’s sleeping.No snoring, no drooling, no weird twisted positions.Just a deep, steady peace on that strong, perfectly symmetrical face while his broad chest rises and falls slow.I really hope he’s never seen me sleep. Worse — I hope he’s never seen me wake up. Hair a mess, creased skin, morning breath.I pull off the boots, and my feet are covered in some thick, gritty powder, but I ignore it and lie back down. Even though the dizziness and the headache are gone — and the cut on my head isn’t bleeding anymore — I know I need rest. Maybe when I wake up in the morning, my memories will finally fall back into place.I close my eyes and my thoughts start drifting, losing shape, until everything goes dark.***The woods are damp and too dark, and the branches and dry leaves prick the soles of my feet as I walk faster, scanning the shadows. The cold makes me rub my arms with both hands, trying to build enough fricti
With his shirt torn and hands covered in blood, Cael walks toward me, crossing the dance floor to the bar.— They took her.It’s automatic. My body just stops responding.— Who? — It’s all I can get out.— Volkov.Not even a burst of quartz to the chest would hit as hard as that name.Something claws its way up my throat, something with no name, heavier than panic.Volkov isn’t after revenge for the Sentinels who died in the Eternal Vigil collapse. He has orders to kill Alexia.They’re not waiting for negotiation. This is an execution.— I took down three of them, but Volkov and another shoved her into a car before I could reach them.I grab Draven by the collar before I even realize what I’m doing.— Call the Primaz. Now. — I spit the words out. — Tell him the Eternal Vigil just signed a death sentence. If they lay one finger on her, I swear by every fallen one I’ll send the Council straight to hell… I’ll wipe out every last Sentinel on this planet.Draven rips my hand off his shirt
The man in front of me, covered in blood, actually has an erection.Unbelievable.Even more unbelievable is that I’m doing everything I can to accidentally brush against the bulge in his pants.Each time I do, he inhales sharp, holds it, then exhales, like pain and desire have somehow merged inside him.My breathing turns shallow, so I start pulling air quietly through my mouth.Then his hand slides into my hair, and my eyes flutter shut for a second on instinct. For heartbeat, I think he’s going to pull my head toward his hardness — but his fingers only glide through the strands stuck with dried blood.— Need to take care of this first — he says, and maybe I’m insane, but I swear his words sound seductive.A hot shiver crawls up my arm, and he smiles. He noticed.I drop the dagger and push a finger inside the wound. Caelith exhales hard through his mouth, but I feel the edge of the bullet scrape my fingertip. I’ve got it. Finally.I barely have time to breathe before he pulls me up i







