FAZER LOGIN** Jake’s POV **The results don't make a damn lick of sense. I look at them for the third time, as though the numbers might rearrange themselves if I stare at them hard enough. They don't. They’re normal. Every single one.I turn toward the bed. Leo is lying on his back with one arm behind his head
Neither argues, and I appreciate that more than if they'd immediately told me it wasn't true.“Jake has the clinic. Ronnie. His patients. Leo is Gamma. He has a job here. People depend on them. Everything they’ve ever known is here,” my throat tightens. “And I'm asking them to walk away from all of
** Poppy’s POV **Alaric’s hands cup my face, and then his mouth is on mine. I freeze for half a second. He’s not just kissing me, he’s touching me. Skin on skin, his thumbs against my cheeks, his warm lips against mine. I wait for the pull, for that horrible, instinctive hunger to reach for his li
I ignore it all. Because all I can see is Leo falling again. I look down at my trembling hands; the feeling of his life rushing through them still there. I take another step backward, away from everyone.“Poppy,” Alaric says softly.I stop. “I’m fine.” “I didn’t ask.” I look up. He and Bastian ar
** Poppy’s POV **It takes Ryder and Jake to get Leo up off the ground. Despite having the life of at least six ancient trees running through him, apparently he’s still weak. I’m not even going to try to make sense of that.I stand uselessly to the side as Jake slips an arm beneath his shoulders and
Paige inhales sharply. “That doesn't mean…”“I know,” I move toward her. “I’m your sister.”Tears spill down her cheeks. I reach for her hand, then stop myself.“I know this is my family, and that Phoenix will always be home.”My own tears fall again.“But maybe it isn't the only one.”Paige looks a
** Remy’s POV **I don’t remember falling asleep on the couch, but when I wake, sunlight is filtering through the window. For a second, it feels like any other day. Then the memories hit. The flash of light. The laughter echoing through the woods. The stench of poison in the creek, and Paige’s arms
** Ryder’s POV **Dinner feels almost normal. The sound of laughter, the warmth of the kitchen, the way Paige’s smile makes everything else bearable. For a while, we pretend everything’s fine, but even as I laugh at Jaxon’s terrible joke, a part of me stays on alert. The scent of worry clings to Rem
“Leo didn’t react this badly though, his biggest issue was the wound itself.” Callen shakes his head.“I think that’s the key.” Poppy’s eyes flick between the two men. “Leo was actively bleeding, which means most of the toxin would’ve drained out with the blood. Ryder has no open wounds, it’s trappi
He gives me a weak smile. “I scared myself too.”Callen nudges me gently. “You should’ve seen her, Rye. She was glowing like something out of a movie. It was wild.”“I remember,” Ryder nods, still watching me. “There was this warm light. I thought it was the moon, but it was you. You are my light, P







