Ethel Cain Before Transition Novels & Stories

"I don't know! I swear I don't know! Believe me just once! Just this once!" Cain stood there, motionless. When he'd torn up the mating contract for me, when they'd locked him in the silver cage, when they'd exiled him to the wilderness—he'd been just as immovable. But back then, his stubbornness was to protect me. Now, his stubbornness was crushing me. The chains tightened a third time. Blood seeped from the corner of Ethan's mouth. His entire arm had turned silver-gray. I tore free of Cain and threw myself at the punishment post.

I expect her to argue, she always does, but she walks over to the black kitchen island, puts her bag on the counter and takes out a red satchel, then starts to count out the pills, dropping the tablets in little containers. “What about the injections?” Madeleine asks with a yawn. Like all of us, she’s paste, damn near ready to collapse. “You’re done with that for now,” Ethel responds, still in that flat affect. “The one with the red pill is Madeleine’s,” she says and starts to put everything away again. I have a strong feeling we’re going to lose our nurse. Ethel is the kind who has seen the result of violence, but never lived through it.

"Your knee. Elias can treat it. Go to Alpha City. Surrender yourself. Give up Marcus's intelligence. Your name will be entered into the war criminal registry. But it does not warrant death. Whether you go or not. You decide." She did not look back. The door closed behind her. At the gates of the estate, Cain stood waiting. He wore no armor. The sleeves of his black civilian tunic were rolled up to his elbows. Exposing the old scar on his forearm. The one he had brought out of the forge. Not the burn on his right shoulder. The chilblain scar she had discovered on the back of his hand. He was waiting for her. She had walked the mountain paths through the entire night. Her boots were caked in m

The piercing, rugged, good looks of The Casanova of Caines had her taking notice. Keira had watched him through the slightly ajar partition that separated his dark, secluded corner from the rest of the restaurant for about an hour before Emily Maine showed up. As she watched them exchange heated words, the memory of Ethan took a backseat to Aaron's tortured face. He stirred unfamiliar sensations in her. Just like the first time she laid eyes on him in Sartis Est.

But something loosened in his spine. And in that silence, Eden leaned against his shoulder Not to comfort him. But to say: You’re still here. And that means you’re ready now. To live in a world you weren’t trained for. But one you earned. The committee chamber was full but still. No press. No feeds. Just the people who mattered most: Archive stewards. Resonance architects. Trauma transition officers. Public empathy liaisons. And seated at the front? Eden. Cassian.

After several minutes of contemplation, she remembered the slave auction where she had met Cain. "That's right, I can use it to divert some of the attention from House Windsor," Elen said, a sly grin forming as she clenched her teeth. Rubbing her wrist, a cross mark appeared on her skin. "Cain, I need you." A dark light flickered in Elen's room, and suddenly Cain appeared, now dressed casually, his features more distinct than when Elen had first met him at the auction. Cain had a sharp jawline, intense brown eyes, and black hair.

"I want him to go away,” I said, this moment with Ethan was my moment of truth, I have decided to open up to him and there is no going back, that has always been my desire from the day I killed that man. “I can’t make him go away.” he said, turning me so i was sat on the sofa. “You have not talked about your mother Emma, Everything you have told me would not have affected your ability to feel pain. You had sex before your transition, and that made you believe you needed pain to get off. You have not talked about your mother or your transition.”

CAIN Pacing the length of my room, I’ve finally killed my phone. I couldn't handle the constant vibration of the world watching my humiliation. The click of the door has me spinning, claws halfway out. I expected Kai to burst in, ready to drag me to the obsidian shrine or humiliate me in front of his brothers while the car still smoldered. To my shock, it’s not the Alpha. "Cain?" Ethan Cole frowns, stepping inside and locking the door behind him.

We were moving again. We weren’t hiding in a shack. We were locked in a moving palace, racing toward the next cage. I waited until we reached the highway, until the steady hum of the road gave me a thin cover of privacy. I forced myself to stand. My legs shook as I walked toward the back suite. The door was unlocked. Ethan wanted me to see. Kai lay on the bed under the soft purple lights. Long shadows bruised his face. Lila stood beside him, her back to me, slipping a syringe into her case. She didn’t look up. Her shoulders were tight and heavy with quiet shame.

Ava's head began aching. Cain continued. "Elara gave you her biological foundation." "Then what did I give myself?" "Your consciousness." Ava stared at him. "I don't understand." "You were the first person to successfully transfer consciousness." "How?" "You were dying." Ava frowned. "Why?" Cain's expression softened. "Because you were trying to save Ethan." Ava's breath caught. "Ethan was dying?" "Yes." "When?" "Before Genesis." Ava closed her eyes. A memory flashed.