MasukFour years ago, Mara Quinn died for a murder she never committed. She was killed for supposedly murdering Leon Rook, brother of Alpha Cassian Rook — the man she loved, her fated mate. He stood there and let it happen. He never once fought for her. Now she's alive again. She wakes up clawing out of a grave, breathing, terrified — but trapped inside someone else's body. She's wearing the face of Selene Voss, a woman the Rook pack already hates. Mara has no idea who did this to her or why. So she does the only thing that makes sense. She walks straight back into the home of the man who let her die. At Blackridge House, Cassian doesn't trust this stranger at his door. But something about her won't leave him alone. His wolf reacts to her like it knows her. He locks her away and tells himself it's just caution. Really, he's scared of what she's stirring up inside him. While hiding who she really is, Mara starts digging into her own murder. She learns something impossible: memory binding, a forbidden power that can erase and rewrite a person's mind, was used on her. With help from a healer and her own brother, she uncovers a conspiracy tangled up in her parents' deaths, her stolen memories, and the true story behind Leon's death. Meanwhile, someone close to Cassian is working hard to keep the truth buried forever.
Lihat lebih banyakCassian steps in front of me instantly, blade already drawn, and around us the others fan out fast, weapons ready despite the confined space of the chamber. "You," Cassian growls toward the binder. "You led us straight into her hands." The old man's face crumples with something like genuine horror. "No. I swear to you, I intended no such thing. I believed she remained in Ashfall, believed we had time before…" "Enough," Cordelia says, voice cutting sharp through his protests. "Save your performance. I already know precisely what you intended to do, old friend. I've known since the moment you deviated from my instructions back at the chapel." "How," the binder demands, genuine confusion mixing with his horror now. "You forget how long I've studied the sealed powers," Cordelia says, something almost pitiful in her tone. "The moment they spoke through you, I felt it too." “Even though the connection was brief, it was enough to tell me exactly what you chose to reveal
I stop walking, dread pooling cold and heavy in my stomach, and Cassian notices instantly, turning back toward me with concern sharp across his face."Mara? What's wrong?"“Nyx says something’s changed,” I say quietly, keeping my voice low enough that only those closest to me can hear.“About him.” I glance toward the binder, who has continued walking a few steps ahead, seemingly unaware that we’ve stopped. “She says it’s like something else is watching us through his eyes now.”Cassian's whole body goes rigid, hand dropping instinctively to his blade again. "Since when?""Since we started talking properly. About the alternative path."The binder stops walking finally, sensing the shift in our group's energy even without turning around fully. "Is something troubling you?" he asks, voice carrying that same dry, weathered quality as before, though now I strain to hear anything different beneath it."Turn around," Cassian says, voice hard. "Slowly."The old man does as he’s told, his bl
The words land like a blow, and every guard around us tenses instantly, weapons half-raised, Cassian's hand flying fast to the blade at his belt."Explain," Cassian says, voice deadly quiet now, "before I decide trusting you was the worst mistake I've made all night."The old man doesn't flinch, or retreat, he just stands there with that same weary patience despite the sudden threat surrounding him. "She sent me believing I would deliver a different message entirely. One meant to frighten Mara into compliance, to make the alternative path sound impossible, forcing her hand toward accepting the sacrifice of her bond instead.""Why would she want that?" I ask, though understanding's already dawning cold and sharp in my chest even as I ask it."Because the alternative I just described to you, the balance achieved through your own existence rather than through severed love, that path doesn't grant her anything," the binder says. "It seals the threshold, yes, but it does so in a way she
Cassian's already halfway dressed by the time I finish pulling on my own clothes, and he grabs the blade from beside the bed, tucking it into his belt with hands that shake despite his obvious effort to steady them."Wake Damon," he says, moving toward the door. "And Evan. I want everyone to be alert before we approach."I catch his arm before he can leave. "We're not rushing in blind again. Not after tonight.""I know," he says, though I can hear the fury and fear both warring hard beneath his controlled voice. "But I'm not letting her sit in my chapel uninterrupted either."We move fast through the halls, rousing Damon and Evan, and within minutes we're gathered near the courtyard entrance, tense and alert despite the exhaustion still dragging heavy at all of us from tonight's earlier battle.“Careful," Nyx warns, restless beneath my skin. “Something feels wrong about this. Too easy, and too obvious.”"Nyx thinks it might be a trap," I say quietly to Cassian as we approach the chap
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