LOGINSONYA'S POVThe hospital room feels too small for the four of us plus the tension hanging thick in the air.Reign is sitting up in bed, his chest still heavily bandaged, but his eyes are focused and intent as he studies the photo of my mother. Landon is in the chair beside him, oxygen tube still in his nose, but his fingers are flying across his laptop keyboard.Phoebe stands by the window, arms crossed, her bruised throat visible every time she swallows.And I'm pacing. Because sitting still feels impossible when my biological mother is being held hostage by a supernatural crime lord."Okay," Landon says, pulling up a map of the cemetery on his screen. "Here's what we know. Riverside Cemetery is about fifteen acres, mostly open ground with some wooded areas on the eastern perimeter. There are three entrances, main gate here, service entrance here, and a gap in the fence on the north side that homeless people use.""What about security?" Reign asks."None. It's a cemetery, not Fort Kn
SONYA'S POV"So Vanessa could be alive right now?" I feel sick. "Being controlled by Melvanie?""Or working with her willingly." Reign's jaw clenches. "Either way, we need to find them both. Before they make their next move.""Fuck." Landon runs a hand through his hair. "This is so much worse than I thought.""But how is that even possible?" I ask. "I thought resurrection was just... myths. Stories.""It's possible with enough power and the right kind of magic," Reign says grimly. "But it always comes with a price. Whoever gets brought back, they're not the same. They're bound to whoever resurrected them, completely under their control.""So Vanessa is basically Melvanie's puppet now?" Phoebe looks stricken."Worse than a puppet. She'll have Vanessa's memories, her knowledge, everything Vanessa knew about us." Reign's expression hardens. "Melvanie now has a weapon who knows all our weaknesses, all our secrets, every way to hurt us. And that weapon looks like someone we trusted."I thi
SONYA'S POVThe morgue is exactly as depressing as you'd expect.Fluorescent lights that stutter intermittently, metal tables with suspicious stains, the smell of chemicals trying to mask the smell of death. I hate it immediately.Reign insisted on coming despite the doctor's very vocal objections. He's moving slowly, one arm pressed against his bandaged chest, his face pale but determined. Landon is with us too, an oxygen tank trailing behind him on a small cart, looking equally stubborn."You're both stubborn idiots," I mutter as we follow the nervous morgue attendant down the corridor."Noted," Reign says."Appreciated," Landon adds."You didn't have to come," Reign says for the third time."Yes, I did,” I reply. “This is about both of us now. Besides, you're still injured. You need backup.""I have Landon.""Who's also injured," I point out. "So really, I'm backup for both of you.""And I'm backup for the backup," Phoebe adds cheerfully. Because of course she insisted on coming to
SONYA'S POV"Yeah. I heard." Phoebe's voice is gentle. "That's a lot to process.""I don't even know how to process it," I admit. "I mean, Bridget is my mom. She raised me, loved me, she was there for every scraped knee and broken heart. But apparently she's not... she didn't..." The words stick in my throat."She didn't give birth to you," Phoebe finishes quietly. "But that doesn't make her any less your mother, Sonya. Biology isn't everything.""I know that. Logically, I know that." I wipe my eyes. "But there's this woman I've never met, Selene, who apparently sacrificed herself to keep me safe. Who looks exactly like me. Who is my biological mother. And I don't know how to feel about that.""You don't have to know right now. You're allowed to be confused.""I saw her picture. Melvanie showed me." My voice drops to barely a whisper. "It was like looking in a mirror, Phoebe. Same face, same hair, same eyes. She could have been my twin.""That must have been surreal.""It was terrifyin
SONYA'S POVThe hospital hallway is too bright, too white, too everything.I'm walking away from Reign's room because if I stay there one more second, I'm going to completely fall apart. And I can't afford to fall apart. Not yet. Not when there's still so much we need to handle.But my hands are shaking.My whole body is shaking, actually. A delayed reaction to everything, to Reign almost dying, to learning about my real mother, to Bridget not being... to Bridget...I can't even think about it without feeling like the ground is tipping sideways under me."Sonya?"I turn to find Phoebe walking toward me, carrying two cups of coffee from the vending machine. She's moving carefully, one hand touching her throat every few steps. The bruises have darkened to deep purple and black, fingerprint-shaped marks that make my stomach turn."Hey," I manage. "You shouldn't be walking around, Phoebe. The doctor said…""The doctor said a lot of things. I ignored most of them." She hands me one of the
REIGN'S POV"Easy!" Sonya pushes me back down. "The doctor said no sudden movements. You'll tear your stitches.""How the fuck did my father escape?" I demand, my voice rough with fury."Inside help," Landon says grimly. "One of the guards at the transport facility was on his payroll. Guy named Pascal Davis, been working security for two years, seemed loyal. Apparently Garrick's been paying him on the side for months, just waiting for the right moment."Perfect. Just fucking perfect."Where's Davis now?""In custody. Singing like a canary to avoid harsher charges. But Garrick had a head start. We've got warriors tracking him, but so far, nothing. He's gone to ground."I slam my fist against the bed rail, ignoring the spike of pain in my chest. "That son of a bitch. After everything he's done, he just gets to walk away?""We'll find him, Reign," Landon says with certainty. "He can't hide forever. And when we do, he'll face trial for everything. The conspiracy, the betrayal, working wit
REIGN'S POVThe next morning, I find Sonya in the kitchen, making coffee and looking like she slept about as well as I did.Her red hair is piled on top of her head in a messy bun, and she's wearing those ridiculous pajama shorts that should be illegal. The tank top she has on is thin enough that
SONYA'S POVI stare at the ceiling in my room, my mind racing.Still unable to wrap my head around the fact that Derek has feelings for me.Derek. Has. Feelings. For. Me.Six years. Six years I've waited to hear those words, and now that I have, all I can think about is Reign.The way he looked at
SONYA'S POVI storm into the house ahead of Reign, fury replacing the heat still coursing through me from the car.“Sonya,” Reign calls after me possessively as he follows."You don't own me, Reign," I snap, whirling to face him as he closes the front door with a heavy thud. "I signed a contract, n
SONYA'S POVThe drive back to Reign’s estate is silent.Reign's hands are white-knuckled on the steering wheel, his jaw clenched so tight I'm worried he'll crack a tooth, and the tension in the car is suffocating, pressing down on my chest.That's it, I can't take this anymore."Are you going to sa







