LOGINLilith's POV The back alley hits me like a wall of ice. One second I'm drowning in sweat and bass, the next I'm shivering in this freezing darkness with nothing but Malakai's coat pressed against my skin. My thighs are bare, my feet are killing me from those heels, and the adrenaline that kept me alive in that booth is draining out of me so fast I can barely stand. Malakai doesn't say anything. He just hooks his arms under my legs and lifts me against his chest. His hands are steady, practical, nothing like the way he touched me in the club. That version of him is gone now. This one is all survival instinct, scanning the alley, moving fast toward the SUV. My skin is hot and sticky from the club, and the cold air hits every exposed inch like a slap. I press my face into his shoulder, not because I want to be close to him, but because I can't look at the trash bags and broken bottles we're stepping over. This isn't the world I grew up in. I'm not supposed to be here. Ronan is alread
Lilith's POVThe club is suffocating. I'm sweating under the heavy cashmere trench coat, my bare skin sticking to the silk lining like a second layer I can't escape. The bass is so loud I can feel it in my teeth, vibrating through the floor and up into my bones. Neon lights flash in violent bursts of pink and blue, painting the crowd in strobes of color that make everything look like a fever dream.Roman is watching me squirm.He's completely relaxed against the leather booth, one arm draped over the back, his fingers lazily tapping against the worn material. A stolen drink sits in his other hand, condensation dripping down the glass. He hasn't taken his eyes off me since we sat down, and I hate how much I notice. How much I feel it."I'm going to pass out," I breathe, fanning my neck with my hand. The air is thick with cheap alcohol, sweat, and something sickly sweet I can't identify. "It's a hundred degrees in here.""Take it off, then." His voice cuts through the noise like a kni
Lilith's POV Arthur Sterling sat behind his massive oak desk with that smug smile plastered across his face, like he had already won. The library was all dark wood and leather-bound books that probably cost more than my entire existence. He leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled, waiting for Malakai to start negotiating like a good little businessman.I watched Malakai from my spot near the window, still wrapped in his heavy trench coat that smelled like smoke and rain. My bare feet were freezing against the cold mahogany floor. I had been dragged into this mess without shoes, without a plan, without anything except the pill I had dry-swallowed an hour ago that was now churning in my empty stomach.Arthur finally broke the silence. "So, Mr. Sterling. Shall we discuss the terms of your surrender?"Malakai didn't answer. He just stared at Arthur with those dark, dead eyes that never seemed to blink. The silence stretched between them like a wire about to snap."I'm being generou
Lilith's POV The SUV cuts through the highway like a blade. The city lights smear past the tinted windows, turning into golden streaks against the darkness. I'm sitting in the back seat, clutching Malakai's coat around my bare shoulders. The leather is warm beneath me, but I can't stop shivering.The silence in the car is suffocating.Vane is driving, his eyes fixed on the road ahead. Ronan is in the passenger seat, his head tilted back against the headrest, looking like he doesn't have a care in the world. Malakai sits stiffly beside him, staring straight ahead at the highway. He hasn't said a word since we left the mountains.I'm still trying to process everything that happened. The closet. Jaxson's dead body. The blood on Ronan's hands. And then Roman literally fucking my senses out. The heat of his body pressed against mine. His hands on my skin.But now, sitting in this cold, sleek vehicle, it feels like a completely different world.Without turning his head, Malakai reaches in
Lilith's POVThe five minutes Malakai gave me felt like both a lifetime and no time at all.I'm standing in the middle of his massive walk-in closet, surrounded by walls of expensive suits and crisp white shirts, and my hands won't stop shaking. Not from fear though. I know that now. The trembling is something else entirely, something that's been building since the moment I watched Ronan break that man's jaw without even blinking.The silk shirt I borrowed from Malakai slides off my shoulders and pools at my feet. I'm standing here in nothing but my lace underwear, running my fingers over the rows of tailored trousers, trying to find something that might actually fit me.My reflection catches my eye in the floor-to-ceiling mirror across from me.I'm flushed. Completely, utterly flushed. My cheeks are pink, my pupils are blown wide, and there's a sheen of sweat on my collarbone that has nothing to do with the temperature in this room. The violence didn't scare me. It did something else
Lilith's POV The Rolex on Malakai's wrist starts blinking red and I drop my wine glass.It shatters against the marble floor, red liquid pooling around my bare feet like blood. My heart slams against my ribs because I know exactly what that blinking means. Jaxson's father found us. He sent people. They're outside right now, probably aiming at these massive floor-to-ceiling windows, waiting for the perfect moment to turn this beautiful kitchen into a warzone.But Malakai doesn't even flinch.He reaches under the marble island and presses something I can't see. Before I can ask what he's doing, heavy metal shutters drop over every single window and door in this house. The sound is deafening, like thunder rolling across the mountains. Everything goes pitch black for exactly one second and I gasp, gripping the edge of the counter so hard my knuckles hurt.Then warm amber lights kick in from somewhere and I can see again."We're trapped," I whisper, staring at the solid steel covering e
Lilith's POV The darkness is absolute.I can't see my own hands when I lift them in front of my face. Not even a shadow. It's like someone took the whole world and just turned it off.My heart starts hammering before my brain even catches up.The silence is worse than the dark. There's no wind, no
Lilith's POV The cabin is pitch black and freezing cold. Not the kind of cold that makes you shiver a little. The kind that sinks into your bones and makes your teeth clack together like you're chewing on ice cubes.I stand by the dead stove for ten minutes. Maybe longer. I've lost track of time i
Lilith's POV The sound of running water fills everywhere, echoing in the bathroom. Steam fills the air until it's almost heavy and thick, the scent of expensive jasmine clogging my nostrils…the kind my mother loved. But no matter how much perfume is poured, it still can't reduce the bitter, meta
Lilith's POV The room is suffocating and hot, like it's about to explode. Heat stings on my skin, my heart ramming in my ribs so hard I can hardly think properly. The silk ties are still wrapped around Roman's fingers and Vane? I can feel his long, masculine hands wrapped around my hip, pulling m







