Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 61 - Chapitre 70

IMANIThe evening started innocently enough. Dinner. A movie. Polite conversation.But somewhere between his laughter and the dim glow of the restaurant lights, something began to shift.Augustus’s gaze lingered too long, his smiles too sharp-edged to be charming. Every compliment he gave me felt like a blade wrapped in silk, sweet on the surface, but sharp underneath. At some point, it was like he didn’t want to let me out of his sight.When I excused myself to use the restroom, he insisted on waiting right outside the door.“Just keeping you safe,” he said with a grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes.Then, half-joking, half not — “Wouldn’t want you running away now.” He added.He laughed, but I didn’t. My stomach twisted, unease slithering through me like smoke. I tried to laugh it off, to tell myself I was overreacting. But I could feel it, the way his presence filled the space around me, too close, too heavy.It was fucking suffocating.The drive back was worse. The night o

SHARON (FREYA)The clock ticked past eleven-thirty.I couldn’t sit. I couldn’t breathe.I’d been pacing for hours, back and forth across the living room, clutching the key at my throat until the edges dug into my palm. The chain had gone cold and it had never happened before. I couldn’t feel her. That bond between us, the one that had always tethered her pain to me, was gone. Just like that.“She’s fine,” Declan said for the third time, rubbing his temple. “Maybe she’s at a friend’s, Sharon. We’ll call the police if she’s not back by morning.”“By morning?” I snapped before I could stop myself. Declan froze, his hand dropping. “You’d wait till morning? She’s your daughter too even if she’s not your blood!”He sighed, trying to calm me, and that only made it worse. He always did that, looked at me like I was something fragile, someone who needed handling. “Sharon, please. You’re scaring yourself. Stephan’s already making calls, okay? Let’s give it a bit more time.”I turned toward S

SHARON (FREYA)“Where were you?” I demanded softly, stepping closer. My voice was calm, too calm, the usual calm that came right before a storm.Imani’s eyes turned to me, blinking slowly, unfocused. “I… told you. I fell asleep.” Her words came out slurred, quiet, like she was half here, half somewhere else entirely.I stepped closer. “Don’t dare lie to me.”“I’m not lying.” Her tone didn’t waver like it normally would.No fear. No tremor. Nothing. Just emptiness. She looked at me as if she were staring through me.Something about that look made my skin crawl. The girl who used to flinch at my voice now sat there, calm, detached… unbothered.It pissed me off!My hand went to the key around my neck, curling around it until the edges dug into my palm. “You think you can play games with me?” I whispered, pressing it against my skin. “Let’s see how much you like disobedience now.”I closed my eyes, muttering the words that always worked, the words that used to make her writhe, that kep

IMANI (FLASHBACK)When I opened my eyes, it was dark.The air was cold and damp, smelling of metal, rust, and gasoline. My wrists ached, the rough rope biting into my skin each time I moved. My head throbbed. I blinked hard, trying to focus through the darkness, but all I could make out was the flicker of a single bulb hanging overhead.And then I saw him.Augustus.He stood a few feet away, staring at me. His shirt was ripped open, hair disheveled, eyes glowing faintly gold in the shadows. His chest rose and fell too fast. “Augustus?” My voice came out small, raw. “What…is this? Where are we?”“You shouldn’t have made me do this,” he said, his tone almost mournful. “I didn’t want to hurt you. But you left me no choice.”“Do what?” My stomach knotted. “Augustus, you’re scaring me. Just untie me, please—”“Stop talking!” he snapped, his voice echoing through the empty warehouse. “You have no idea what you are. Do you?”He started pacing again, muttering under his breath, words I co

STEPHANIt had been a few days since that moment in the car, and I hadn’t been able to shake the image of Imani’s face.Tear-streaked, terrified, and somehow still brave enough to confess what she’d done. The way her voice had broken when she said I killed him kept replaying in my head, over and over again.I've barely slept since then. The prophecy was no longer theory, it was here, alive, breathing in the form of a trembling girl who had no idea how powerful she was. And I was supposed to be the one to deliver her to fate.But the longer I looked at her, the less I could stomach it.She’d been moving around the house like a ghost, polite smiles, low voice, keeping to herself. Sharon hovered like a shadow, watching her every move. And Declan… Declan had been unusually chipper. Which never meant anything good.I was sitting at my desk that night, nursing a half-empty glass of scotch, when the door creaked open without a knock. Declan stepped inside like he owned the place… which