MasukDAMIEN.Bryan's behaviour had been irritating enough, but the possibility that one of my own men had deliberately allowed someone into the lower cells was something I wasn't prepared to overlook, not for a single night. I had spent years making certain nobody could threaten my territory from within, and every soldier under my command knew precisely what betraying House Orion cost, yet someone had decided that my orders were optional. That thought sat in my chest like a stone as I poured myself a drink in my study, and I barely managed a sip before the door opened and Knox walked in."Have you found him?""Yes, Alpha."I set the glass down on the desk, harder than I intended."Where is he?""He's being held in the eastern security room. His name is Gareth. He's been part of the palace guard for almost four years."Four years, Four years. Long enough to know exactly what my orders meant, long enough to have stood at my side during half the briefings that had kept this palace safe."Brin
DAMIEN.The lower cells had been built to contain prisoners who posed a threat to the entire territory, and Bryan had been placed in one of the most secure sections, a place where even the air felt heavier. Two guards stood outside his cell, and they straightened the moment they saw me coming."Alpha," they greeted. I barely acknowledged them before my eyes went through the bars. Bryan sat on the edge of his narrow bed with his elbows resting on his knees, looking, if anything, entirely at ease, and when he heard us approaching he lifted his head and a small smile spread across his face, as though he'd been waiting all day for exactly this moment. Well, he certainly seemed comfortable, which only made me want to wipe the expression off his face."Leave us," I ordered.The guards stepped away, though Knox stayed where he was beside me, and I approached the bars slowly, deliberately, letting Bryan feel every step."You're expecting someone."He tilted his head, as casual as if we were d
DAMIEN. I had barely made it halfway down the corridor when I heard the sound of boots hurrying to catch up with me, and I didn't need to turn around to know who it was. Knox only moved that quickly when something had gone wrong, and the fact that he'd waited until Kiva was out of earshot told me he'd already decided I wouldn't like whatever he was about to say."Alpha."I glanced at him over my shoulder, already bracing myself."What is it?""There's something you should know about Bryan."That was enough to make me stop walking altogether. I turned slightly towards him, the quiet of the corridor pressing in around us, my mind still half caught in the room I'd just left, in Kiva's trembling hands and the cracks she'd put through the Priestess's wall without even realising it."I'm listening."Knox hesitated for a moment before he spoke, which was unlike him, and I found myself watching his face more closely than I otherwise would have."He's been asking about someone.""Someone?""A
KIVAThat evening, I sat by the window in our bedroom with a sheet of paper in front of me. Damien had gone to speak with Knox and promised to return soon, though I knew the conversation might take a while. I'd spent most of the afternoon staring at the ceiling, trying not to imagine the future, and it hadn't worked. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw two children standing on opposite sides of a door, one waiting, one leaving, neither understanding why. I couldn't do that to them. I wouldn't.But there was someone else I couldn't stop thinking about. Tamara was still out there, somewhere beyond my reach, and I didn't know what Alexander was doing with her, whether she was safe, whether she was being treated well, or whether she'd found a way to fight back. I had been trying to be patient, trying to trust Damien when he said he would find a way to reach Alexander, but patience was difficult when the person you loved was trapped somewhere you couldn't get to.I pulled a fresh sheet towa
KIVA"Their combined power is unprecedented."My smile faded slightly as she stepped back."Their existence will affect the balance of power around the Gates. They carry the strength of your bloodline, Kiva, and the supernatural inheritance that comes through Damien. Together, their power will be unlike anything this territory has ever witnessed."Damien rose slowly."Explain.""The twins are connected in a way that goes beyond an ordinary bond between siblings. Their energies will feed into each other. Their powers will amplify one another.""Is that a problem?" I asked.The Priestess looked at me."It will become one if they remain together within the Gates."The warmth in my chest began to fade."Why?""Because neither child will be able to regulate the full force of their combined power alone while they are young. Together, they will create something even the strongest among us may struggle to contain."Damien's expression hardened."Then we train them.""It is not that simple.""
KIVAThe secret lasted less than a day, not because Damien told anyone, but because I had underestimated how difficult it would be to hide happiness from people who knew me. Damien sister Vesper was the first to notice. She took one look at me during lunch, narrowed her eyes, and demanded to know what I was hiding. I tried to deny it, and she just stared, and I lasted approximately twelve seconds. When I finally told her, she screamed so loudly that someone in the adjoining corridor dropped a tray, and then she threw her arms around me and cried against my shoulder, and I cried too. We laughed, hugged, and spent the next several minutes talking over each other."You're having a baby!""I know!""You're going to be a mother!""I know!""And Damien—""Is going to be absolutely unbearable."She pulled back, laughing through her tears."He already is.""Thank you! Someone understands me."By evening the news had spread through the family, and there were embraces, congratulations, argument
"The cruelest people are not the ones who hurt you. They are the ones who watch and decide it is not their problem."KIVAShe held out her hand, palm up, like this was already settled, like I had already agreed, like the outcome of this moment had never really been in question.And maybe, in this h
"The bravest thing a broken person can do is say yes to something good."KIVA."Yes."The word came out broken by tears, cracked right down the middle, not elegant at all, not the way I had ever imagined saying something like that if I was ever lucky enough to be asked something like this."Yes, Fa
“THE DREAMS WE CANNOT CONTROL ALREADY OWNS US”DAMIEN (HADES) POVI am in the dream again, and I always know I'm dreaming the moment it starts, but that never gives me control over it because it just means I'm aware enough to suffer through it properly.It begins in silence, not a peaceful silence
“ ALLOW YOURSELF TO SHINE WITHOUT BEING SEEN” KIVA POV.He looked at me for a moment like he was deciding how much to say."The Decaulion," he said.I went still.The name alone did that. Even to someone like me, someone who had spent most of her life looking down rather than up at the structures







