Chapter one

The cries of the baby filled the forest as Aroura struggled to take her last breath, tears in her eyes as she looked at her little princess. Born only seconds ago, the baby already carried the beauty of a goddess.

"Rosie, take Elaine and flee from here. I know they're still after me, they'll be here soon. Hurry, send her to an orphanage." Aroura coughed, tears streaming down her beautiful, dirt-streaked face.

"But madam….”

"Do as I say, Rosie. I only hope she gets to live a normal life, not one spent in constant fear like mine." She let go of her daughter at last, fastening a pendant around the baby's neck. "Run. I can hear footsteps getting closer. I'll hold them off to give you time."

Aroura pushed herself up against the tree, gathering whatever strength remained to fight the assassins closing in. She had spent her whole life running from men like these, because in that place there was no such thing as peace. Everyone smiled like family while quietly plotting to devour each other. Her only crime had been falling in love with the wrong man. She smiled bitterly at the thought of her short-lived happiness, wondering if things would have gone differently had she never met him. Would she still be the youngest, most beloved daughter of the Heiken family?

"There she is." The assassin's voice cut through her thoughts. Aroura's expression sharpened, her aura shifting, the mark of a woman once ranked best of the best.

"Get her, now," the tall, masked leader barked.

"Boss, she's rumored to be dangerous, we should hit her together."

"Hah. We're from the 943 Association, we don't run from anyone. Attack! She dies, or we do."

All five moved in on her at once.

"Boss, we need to fall back." One assassin dragged himself upright, badly beaten. "She's really the best. Even wounded, she's already killed two of ours and crippled two more."

Aroura stood her ground, refusing to show weakness, silently praying Rosie had made it far away with her daughter.

"Shut your mouth. We finish this today. What will they say of the 943 Association if five of us fall to one woman?" Green veins stood out on the leader's forehead as he shouted.

"Kill her."

The fight resumed, and this time Aroura had nothing left but will; the strong desire to see her baby. She kept moving on the thought of holding her daughter again someday. A gunshot cracked through the trees and everything went still. Aroura stared down at her abdomen, soaked dark with blood, tears blurring her sight.

A second shot rang out and she dropped to her knees.

Would she live to see her daughter's face? Would some family love her the way she deserved? Would she even remember her mother at all? The thoughts came and went as tears slid down Aroura's face. She was dying tho she really wanted to live. Will she never get to watch her little girl grow?

"Make sure she's dead," the leader ordered, gripping his dislocated shoulder. If he hadn't drawn his gun when he did, they'd likely all be corpses in that clearing instead. Good thing he brought it today.

They fired several shots at her to be certain, then buried her in the forest, wiping all evidence of anything that could tie the scene back to them, before gathering their dead and disappearing into the trees.

Rosie was breathless and shaking by the time she reached the secret boat, baby in her arms. Elaine, strangely gave her no trouble at all. She slept peacefully the whole way, a small smile tugging at her reddish little mouth, as if she already understood there was no room for crying tonight.

The three surviving assassins knelt before Evie in the dim hall of the estate, heads bowed, blood still drying on their sleeves.

"Report," Evie said without rising from her seat.

"She's dead, buried in the forest with no trace left behind. But we lost Hakan and Miro, and Dael's shoulder is done for."

Evie said nothing for a long moment, turning a small blade over in her fingers, watching the candlelight catch its edge.

"And the child?"

"Gone before we reached her. The maid took her."

"Find her." Evie's voice stayed flat, almost bored, though her grip on the blade had tightened. "A newborn and a frightened servant girl can't have gotten far. I want that child found, do you understand me."

"Yes, ma'am."

They left without another word, and Evie sat alone with the candle burning low, thinking of her sister the way she always did, with something twisted between hatred and grief. Aroura had always been the golden one. Faster, sharper, more gifted with every blade and every technique their masters put in front of her, while Evie had to bleed for every scrap of skill she owned. Their father used to watch Aroura train with something like wonder on his face, a look he never once wore for Evie no matter how hard she pushed herself. It didn't matter that Evie was older. It didn't matter that she trained until her hands split open. Aroura simply had to breathe and the world adored her for it.

So when Aroura ran off with a man from an enemy house, throwing away the Heiken name like it meant nothing, something in Evie finally cracked open. Let the whole of that hidden town, the one whose name nobody outside its walls was ever meant to know, understand that Evie was the one to fear now.

Aroura was gone but the child was still out there, carrying her blood and Evie intended to make sure that mistake didn't survive to grow up.