Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 21 - Chapitre 30

Chapter Twenty-One: The Night the Bond Almost Broke HimKai POVThe phone rings twice before I answer.I know the number. I deleted it from my phone years ago, and it still sits in my head like a splinter I could never dig out. My voice comes out as ice."What do you want."Rachel's breath is ragged on the line. There is no wind behind it, no traffic. She is somewhere closed in, somewhere dark, and she is trying very hard to sound amused."Not much. Just wanted to warn you. If you want to save your little princess… you might as well come to this location."A video loads on my screen. Grainy. Shaky. Clear enough.Rose is on a bed. Her limbs are heavy, her head turned the wrong way on the pillow. Derek Blackwood's hands are at the straps of her dress. The door behind him is locked. A phone lies face up on the floor, and my name is flashing on its screen, over and over, ringing out to nobody.My name. She tried to call me, and he took the phone from her hand.Three seconds of silence fol

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Mask Goes Back OnRose POVThe morning light comes through the curtains whether I want it or not. I stand in front of the mirror in black, hair pulled back so tight it pulls at my temples. My face is empty. I made it that way on purpose, one muscle at a time. I practice it twice. Chin level. Eyes flat. Mouth still. When I get it right I stop.The diamond is still at my throat. I haven't taken it off. I don't look at it.The woman who sobbed into Kai's chest and said his name in the back of a car is gone. I put her somewhere she can't be reached. The Ghost is back.My hand finds the door handle. The painting is on the dresser behind me. I can feel it there. I walk out of the room without looking at it.The apartment is too quiet. I can smell coffee before I reach the kitchen. Kai is already there. Black shirt. Sleeves rolled to the elbow. A faint smear of blood on the edge of one cuff, and he hasn't bothered to wipe it off. He looks up when I come in and the a

Chapter Twenty-Five: ThreeKai POV"Three."Derek's scream rips through the concrete the second the number leaves my mouth. It isn't a word. It's animal terror, pure. Tears and blood pour down his ruined face. His body thrashes against the chains so hard the metal bites deeper into his wrists.The echo comes back off the walls. The man holding the phone flinches. I don't. My finger stays on the trigger for one long, deliberate second. I let him feel the second. I watch the pulse jump in the hollow of his throat. Then the corner of my mouth lifts in a slow, cold smirk."Good choice."I signal with two fingers. One of my men dials the pack council's emergency line and puts the phone on speaker. He holds it inches from Derek's bloody mouth.The line connects. A formal voice answers. A woman, clipped, bored, the voice of someone eating lunch at her desk.Derek's voice shakes so badly the words almost come apart, but he says exactly what I told him to say."This is Alpha Derek Blackwood. I

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Choice and the CheekRose POVThe park is silent. A pigeon walks across the path, stops, walks on. Nobody laughs. Nobody moves.Jay's voice is small but clear. It carries across the open grass between us."Are you going to come with me… or Rose?"Rachel's face twists. The soft look is gone. She opens her mouth, already reaching for another practiced line.Jay doesn't wait.He turns fully toward me. He slips his hand more firmly into mine. His fingers are sticky with salt and sugar and they hold on. He says it quietly, and there is nothing in it that can be argued with."I'm going with my mum."Something inside my chest opens so fast I can't breathe around it. I feel his hand shake inside mine. I understand what this cost him, and I hold on harder than I have ever held anything. Behind me Kai makes no sound. I feel him there anyway, a solid heat at my back. Jay breathes out, long and shaky, like he has been holding it since the day he arrived.Rachel's express

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Uncle Kai, Are You Going to Marry My Mummy?Rose POV7:14 a.m.Sunlight spills across the marble island. I stand at the stove in soft black lounge pants and one of Kai's old shirts. It was the only clean thing available. I will say so if anyone asks.The radio is off. The only sounds are the pan and my own voice, and I don't stop it. I hum under my breath. Something low. I don't know the song. I flip pancakes shaped like clumsy stars. The first one tore. The second one burned at the edge. The third looks like a star if you want it to.A pot of coffee waits on the counter. I made it strong, the way he takes it, and I didn't ask myself why. Vanilla and butter fill the penthouse. The pan hisses. My shoulders are down. I notice it when I reach for the plate. For the first time in five years I am not braced for impact.Jay's lamp is still on down the hall. I can see the glow from here. I don't know what to do with that feeling, so I flip another pancake.Kai POVI step