FAZER LOGINAriana’s POVThe floor moved.Not shook.Moved.Like something underneath the laboratory had rolled over in its sleep.Everyone froze.Then the entire building groaned.A deep, monstrous sound traveled through the walls.Christopher slowly raised one finger.“I’m just going to say it.”Nobody looked at him.“This place has way too many things living underneath it.”Alina grabbed his shoulder.“Run.”We ran.The laboratory doors burst open as we rushed into the corridor.Behind us, something crashed.Then came another roar.My mother grabbed my hand.“Don’t look back.”Naturally—I looked back.A crack had opened across the laboratory floor.Blue light poured through it.Something was climbing out.I couldn’t see its face.Only its enormous hand.Metal.Flesh.Covered in glowing symbols.My stomach twisted.“What is that?”My mother didn’t answer.“Mom.”She pulled me faster.“Ariana, we need to get you out before it wakes completely.”“What is it?”Her eyes filled with fear.“The reas
Ariana’s POVThe voice echoed through the darkness.Calm.Almost amused.“After seventeen years… my family is finally together.”My entire body went cold.I knew that voice.I had heard it before.Not in a memory.Not in a dream.In the dark corners of my childhood.A man standing beside my bed.A hand brushing my hair.A voice whispering—Sleep, little star.I stumbled backward.Damien caught me.“Ariana?”I couldn’t answer.My mother was staring at the door.My father had gone completely still.Even Ethan looked afraid.That scared me more than anything.“Who is he?” I whispered.My father looked at me.“The man who started all of this.”A metallic click sounded from the other side of the door.My father stepped toward the console.“Gabriel.”“I know.”“Get them out.”Gabriel nodded.My mother grabbed my arm.“Come with me.”I pulled away.“No.”She froze.“I need answers.”“You’ll get them.”“No.”I shook my head.“I’m done being protected by lies.”Her eyes filled with tears.“I w
Ariana’s POVI stared at Ethan.Then at my mother.Then back at Ethan.My brain refused to process the words.I’m your twin.No.That wasn’t possible.I would have remembered.I would have known.Wouldn’t I?“You…”My voice cracked.“You’re lying.”Ethan smiled.“That’s exactly what she taught you to say.”My mother stepped forward.“Ethan, stop.”He laughed softly.“Still giving orders.”His silver eyes flickered.“After all these years.”I looked at my mother.“Tell me he’s lying.”She didn’t answer.That was enough.My chest tightened.“Tell me!”“I’m sorry.”The words came out barely above a whisper.I stepped backward.Damien immediately caught my hand.“Hey.”I pulled away.“No.”I looked at my mother.“You knew?”She nodded slowly.“You knew I had a brother?”“Yes.”“And you let me grow up alone?”Her eyes filled with tears.“I didn’t have a choice.”“Everyone always says that.”My voice rose.“Everyone has an excuse.”Ethan’s smile disappeared.“You want the truth?”He stepped
Ariana’s POVI forgot how to breathe.The woman standing across the laboratory couldn’t be real.She looked older than the woman in the photograph. There were silver strands in her dark hair now, and faint lines around her eyes.But I knew those eyes.I had spent my entire life wondering what my mother’s face looked like.I had imagined it a thousand different ways.Never once had I imagined this.Her standing in front of me.Alive.Looking at me like she had been waiting seventeen years.“Mom?”The word came out broken.She covered her mouth.Tears rolled down her cheeks.“You’re so beautiful.”That was it.No explanation.No dramatic speech.Just four words.And somehow they hurt more than everything else.I took one step forward.Then another.“You’re alive.”She nodded.“I am.”“You were supposed to be dead.”“I know.”“You let me believe you were dead.”Her face crumpled.“I know.”My anger came rushing back.“You watched me grow up thinking you abandoned me!”“I never abandoned
Ariana’s POVWe fell.For one terrifying second, there was no up.No down.No sound except my own scream.Then Damien’s arms wrapped around me.He twisted his body in midair, taking the impact when we crashed onto a narrow metal platform below.Pain shot through my ribs.I groaned.Damien didn’t move.“D-damien?”Nothing.My heart stopped.I pushed myself upright.“Damien!”His eyes opened.He winced.“That’s the third time you’ve screamed my name today.”I stared at him.“You almost died!”“Technically, I didn’t.”“You fell off a cliff!”“Small cliff.”I stared at him.He smiled weakly.“Okay. Medium cliff.”Despite everything, a laugh escaped me.It was shaky.Almost hysterical.But it was a laugh.Damien looked at me for a moment.“Good.”“What?”“You’re laughing.”I frowned.“You’re bleeding and you’re worried about whether I’m laughing?”“I like your laugh.”My face heated instantly.“You’re ridiculous.”“Probably.”He tried to sit up.I immediately pushed him back down.“Don’t m
Ariana’s POVThe photograph trembled in Gabriel’s hand.No.It wasn’t the photograph.It was me.Every muscle in my body locked as I stared at the woman smiling back at me. Her eyes were unmistakable. The same almond shape. The same stubborn warmth. The same tiny mole beneath her left eye that I’d seen every morning in my own reflection.My mother.Alive.Or at least…Alive when that picture had been taken.“No…” My voice barely escaped my lips. “You’re lying.”Gabriel didn’t argue.He simply held the picture a little higher.“You’ve spent your life believing she died beneath this facility.”He paused.“She didn’t.”My heartbeat hammered in my ears.Seventeen years.Seventeen years of grief…For someone who might never have been dead.“Ariana.”Damien’s voice broke through the storm in my head.“Don’t let him pull you in.”I looked at him.His face was streaked with soot. Blood ran from the cut above his eyebrow, disappearing beneath the collar of his shirt. Even injured, even exhaust
The church was more stunning than I had dreamed yet I was unable to appreciate it.I grabbed the arm of my father and my fingers shook as I tried to calm my heart. Each beat was louder than the music that was playing in the background and resonating in my chest.“You ready, huh?” my father said, his
“Where is she?” I questioned myself when I emerged out of the last house on my list, and, as usual, she was not there. “Where are you Alina?” I mumbled.I had already checked all possible places I could think of last night after father had left my room. I had called at the houses of the friends o
I walked to the bathroom. I had to take a hot bath to get myself calmed. My body was weak and my chest was sore whenever I inhaled. I switched on the shower and got into the shower gradually. The hot water flowed along my skin, but it did not soothe me. It just made me remember that I had turned so
I sat in the chair in the doctor office trying not to think too hard. I was a little shaky in the hands, and I managed to sit still. The white walls, the slight odor of antiseptic, and the quiet ticking of the clock did not help to soothe the pit in my stomach. Dr. Morrison, the expert who had trea







