LOGINANDREW'S POV, “That seems premature. We're at a delicate point in the discussion—” “Which is exactly why we need a few minutes,” I said, holding his gaze. He looked away first, and I continued. “To discuss your proposals in private and speak our mind without you listening to us. Unless there's a r
ANDREW'S POV, I noticed the guard first. Not his presence, his absence. The post in the east corridor had been manned every time I had checked it since we arrived. It was a consistent, unremarkable detail that I had catalogued the way I catalogued everything in a room like this one—automatically,
ELENA'S POV, The report came in fragments, the way bad news always did. It wasn't clean, nor with the kind of clarity that made decisions easy. Just pieces, arriving one after another through channels that were supposed to be secure and reliable, and each piece landed worse than the one before it.
ELENA'S POV, “I don't need a recess,” I said and my voice came out flat. It wasn't cold, nor sharp, just flat, emptied of the performance of composure I had been maintaining since we walked through the door. Al'thor blinked once, and for the first time since this meeting began, I watched fear fli
ELENA'S POV, I don't know how long I stood there before Andrew noticed. He didn't say anything at first. He just shifted around, closing the distance between us by half a step, the way he always did when he sensed something was wrong but didn't yet know what shape it had taken. It was a small thin
ELENA'S POV, “During what?” I asked, not caring that I cut him off from finishing, or that my voice was loud. I had spent years making sure others were happy with what I was doing, and I wasn't the reason for any of their troubles. Now I wanted to be better than that, for myself, instead of being
ELENA'S POV,The restaurant I started working at wasn’t a Michelin star, but it was quite popular among the crowds that craved more than your regular burger and fries. It was a small European-style restaurant that served authentic European cuisine along with some famous fusion dishes.It was in the
ELENA'S POV,Ryan was standing in a tailored suit with an air of confidence and raw anger surrounding him from everywhere. His hair was parted sideways and his presence filled the small space inside. Although he was a customer like me, he looked more like he owned the restaurant.“President Ryan!” I
“I don't have experience doing anything. For most of it, I had a very secure life. This is the first time I'm doing something with my own hands.” I looked down at my hands when I said that. “I can't let one bad experience ruin all the good memories I made in this place.”“I understand that, but I st
RYAN'S POV,“It’s the Shadow Pack. Julian hired them to find Elena.” Corbin called in the middle of the night to give me the information.He had been tailing Julian for a long time, to collect information about his movements and cause problems in his search for Elena. He had been mostly successful b







