LOGINDorianI heard the gunshot before I felt the pain.The sound was loud and sharp and it echoed through the garden. I turned toward the woman and saw the gun in her hand and I saw the smoke rising from the barrel. And then I felt the impact and it was like being punched in the chest.I fell to the ground and the world went blurry and I could hear Ivy screaming my name but her voice sounded far away."Dorian! Dorian, no!"I tried to speak but I could not. My mouth would not open and my words would not come and everything was getting dark.Ivy's face appeared above me and she was crying and her hands were pressing against my chest and I could feel the warmth of her blood on my skin."Stay with me," she said and her voice was broken. "Please stay with me."I wanted to tell her I loved her. I wanted to tell her everything would be okay. But I could not form the words.I heard the woman speaking and I heard Ivy begging and I heard the sirens in the distance.And then I felt myself slipping a
IvyI watched the woman raise the gun and my heart stopped.Sofia. Daniel's other sister. The twin of the woman who had been helping us. The woman who had been watching and waiting and planning her own revenge.Dorian stood frozen in front of her and his hands were raised and his face was pale."Sofia," he said and his voice was steady. "Put down the gun. We can talk about this."Sofia laughed and it was a cold laugh with no warmth in it."Talk?" she asked. "You think I want to talk? I want to watch you suffer. I want to watch you die."I stepped forward and my voice was calm."Please," I said. "Please do not do this. Whatever Daniel told you, it is not true."Sofia looked at me and her eyes were wild."Daniel told me everything," she said. "He told me about the fire and the secrets and the lies. He told me about my mother and what your family did to her. He told me about Clara and how she started it all."I shook my head and my voice was steady."Clara started the fire," I said. "But
DorianI ran through the hospital parking lot and my heart was pounding and my mind was racing.Daniel had escaped from prison and he had taken Clara and I had no idea where they were going.I jumped into the car and Ivy slid into the passenger seat beside me."Where do we start?" she asked and her voice was steady.I thought about Daniel and his obsession with the orphanage and his need for closure."The orphanage," I said and started the engine. "He is taking her back to the orphanage."We drove through the dark streets and the city was quiet and the lights were blurred.Ivy called Marcus and told him what happened and he said he would meet us there.We arrived at the orphanage and the building was dark and silent and abandoned.I parked the car and we ran toward the entrance.The door was open and the inside was dark and cold.I pulled out my gun and Ivy pulled out hers.We walked forward and our footsteps echoed on the wooden floor."Daniel!" I called out. "I know you are here!"A
IvyI stared at Clara's open eyes and felt the world stop around me.She was awake. After thirty years in a coma, she was finally awake and she was looking at Dorian and she knew his name.Dorian knelt beside the stretcher and his face was pale and his hands were shaking."Clara," he said and his voice was rough. "You are awake."Clara blinked slowly and her eyes were cloudy and confused but they were focused on his face."I dreamed about you," she said and her voice was weak and scratchy. "I dreamed about you every day."Dorian reached out and took her hand and his fingers were trembling."You knew who I was?" he asked. "You knew about me?"Clara nodded and a tear rolled down her scarred cheek."Your mother told me everything," she said. "She visited me every month and she told me about you and she showed me photographs and she told me how proud she was of you."Dorian's voice broke and tears filled his eyes."She loved you," he said. "She loved you so much."Clara squeezed his hand
DorianI stared at Daniel and felt the world stop."A bomb," I repeated and my voice was hollow. "You planted a bomb?"Daniel smiled and it was a cruel smile and his eyes were full of triumph."I have been planning this for years," he said. "I knew you would come here. I knew you would follow me. And I knew I would have the last laugh."I stood up and pulled him to his feet and my voice was sharp."Where is it?" I asked. "Where is the bomb?"Daniel shook his head and his smile did not fade."I am not going to tell you," he said. "You are going to die here. All of you. And there is nothing you can do to stop it."I looked at Ivy and her face was pale and her eyes were wide.I looked at Marcus and his face was hard and his jaw was tight.I looked at Elena and her face was wet with tears and her hands were shaking.I looked at Clara and she was still unconscious and she was still helpless.I turned back to Daniel and my voice was cold."You are going to tell me where the bomb is," I said
IvyI stared at Elena and felt the world tilt beneath my feet.Daniel had taken Clara. He had walked into the hospital and he had walked out with a woman who had been in a coma for thirty years and no one had stopped him."How is that possible?" I asked. "She is in a coma. She cannot walk. She cannot move. How did he take her?"Elena's face was pale and her hands were shaking and her voice was broken."He had help," she said. "He had people waiting outside. They took her on a stretcher and they loaded her into an ambulance and they drove away."Dorian stepped forward and his face was hard and his voice was cold."Did anyone see where they went?" he asked.Elena shook her head and said no."Daniel planned this," she said. "He planned everything. He came to you and he pretended to make peace but he was just buying time."Dorian's jaw tightened and his eyes were dark."Buying time for what?" he asked.Elena looked at him and her voice was barely a whisper."For revenge," she said. "He is
Dorian“People are starting to give you names.”Marcus, my second-in-command said as he walked into my office, holding out a tablet like it was some kind of offering. “They are calling you The Widower.”I leaned back in my back in my leather chair and lifted an eyebrow. “Are they now?”“It’s trendi
Ivy“You call this coffee!”I flinched at uncle Richard’s voice. My hands trembled as I stood before his desk. The cup sat between us, steam rising from the dark liquid.“I'm sorry, uncle Richard…” “Sorry?” He stood slowly, his chair scraped against the hardwood floor. “You’re always sorry, aren't
IvyThe estate was enormous and dark and it looked like the kind of place that swallowed people whole.I saw it through the car window as the iron gates opened ahead of us, the black stone building rising against the sky with lights burning in its upper windows. The gardens on either side were perf
DorianShe didn't scream.That was the first thing I noticed.The elevator doors had closed behind Richard Rowan and the girl hadn't moved. She hadn't begged. Hadn't thrown herself at my feet the way the last one did. She just stood there in that faded blue dress with her head bowed and her hands c







