JOY At first, she was smiling, when I saw her at the door, a bag on her shoulders, four large paper bags strapped around her forearms—two on each side. She was in her jumper and jeans but gone are the specs, just as I had last seen her. She looked like she had just gotten out of bed and had rushed through the packing up to leave wherever she was before coming back here. I assumed that place she was at was Rum’s place, and was about to ask her what happened when her eyes became watery. I took the paper bags from her and asked if she was fired. Then large teardrops started rolling down her reddened eyes. So I hugged her and told her she had done her best. Big companies like B.A.D. are hard to survive in, and she's only an intern. But she managed to stay there for four years, despite having no formal training, and that meant something. And then the incredible girl wailed, loud and hard. In a voice shaking with grief, she blurted that she would no longer be Rum’s assistant. And

WARNING: This chapter contains crude language which you may find distressing. ROSE “Oh… that singer… What’s his name again?” I was drilling a hole through the tray of hair styling tools with my eyes, my body unable to move. Rum’s face is everywhere in my mind, crowding, squeezing, spilling. “Hmm… Gin? Doesn’t sound right….” “Hey! What are you waiting for?” My gaze jerked up at the mirror and the customer was glaring at me, silently chastising me for wasting his precious time. “Hurry up!” he snapped impatiently. “Right!” I heard my voice squeal in panic and sprang into action, my hand shot out to the hair clipper. “Whiskey?” Mrs. Yves continued. The second the clipper came into plain sight, the bossy voice freaked out. “What do you think you’re doing? Don’t you wanna wash my hair first? Are you really from B.A.D?” I stared at him. The man was getting on my nerves—I should tell him to shut up, let me do my job. But my voice is stuck. I feel stuck. I turned on the cl

ROSE Save Keithen…. Save him, Rose. This is getting annoying. STOP BOTHERING ME! I cried out at the strange white light before me. It was glowing gently and beautifully like the gates of heaven. But I could make out the shape of a globe. It was outlined with silver, glistening softly but fiercely. A silver ring. Save him…. The whispers continued. Save Keithen…. STOP IT! YOU’VE BEEN WHISPERING IN MY HEAD FOR THE PAST TWO WEEKS, IT’S DRIVING ME CRAZY! TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT AND GET OUT! I had to ignore it and focus on my life. Do you know how scary that is? I feel like I’m going mad. If I’ve gone mad, who’s gonna make Daddy’s dream come true?! PLEASE! Save him, Save him, Save him… Save HIM…. STOP! SAVE KEITHEN, ROSE! “STOP!!” I screamed. “ROSE!” I threw open my eyes and the warm glow of my bedroom lights greeted me with concern. I winced away when I felt something shaking me lightly. “Rose!” Joy huffed frantically. “Can you hear me?” Save him…. Save…. I blinked a

ROSE One second, everything was under control. In the next, it was chaos. No one saw what happened. Not even me. I was in the midst of convincing one of the ladies in an LBD with the organiser’s tag that I’m Rum’s assistant, and I needed to get to him, when a hush of gasps burst over the screaming, clicking and reporting. Out of genuine curiosity, I jerked around to the noise—and Rum was there, completely surrounded by fans, rendered immobile. He looked helpless—and angry. Well, it didn’t show on his face, of course. He’s a professional. But, for some reason, I could sense anger inside him, and it was on a sharp rise. I panicked—he’s going to shift! Don’t do it, Rum! Frantic, I scanned my vicinity and saw a table of water bottles. Without a second thought, I grabbed the black table cloth and yanked it off in one pull. “HEY, STOP!” One of the black suit guys pressed a finger to his ear and muttered a few things inaudibly. “What are you doing?” I need to get to Rum be

ELENA"Huk—Urgh!" A grunt of pain punched the silent space. The body twisted and untwisted itself, convulsing and flapping like a fish out of water. More low, thick grunts and growls of torture punched the silence as the poison unwillingly followed the white glow to the opening—the stabbed wound—to remove it from the system. The door opened and closed, and my love was back in the spot across the bed from me, checking the cub's pulse. "How is it?" I whispered. Ellis held Keithen's wrist as he stared at the pink edges of the large crimson blot of the sheets, his brows knitting with focus. Then, he looked up to meet my gaze. "It's still slow...." Panic seized me. "But it's stronger. By a notch."I sighed, my lips quivering in sheer relief. "His heart is working again."Ellis sighed too. "It's still weak, but it's working." "Thank Goddess." Heat of relief swarmed to my eyes as I watched my left hand drag slowly and steadily across the air above the cub's back, pulling the white glo