LOGINSleep would not come.Raven lay on the couch at Sasha's apartment, her eyes fixed on the ceiling, her phone clutched in her hand. The screen was dark. The messages had stopped. But she knew they would start again. The silence was worse than the words. It was waiting. It was patient. It was watching.Sasha was asleep on the armchair across the room, her head tilted back, her mouth slightly open. She had stayed awake as long as she could, but exhaustion had finally claimed her. Raven did not blame her. She wished she could sleep too. But every time she closed her eyes, she saw the figure. The hood. The dark car. The text.You cannot hide from me.She sat up. She walked to the window. She pulled the curtain aside. The street was empty. No cars. No figures. No shadows. Just the flickering streetlight and the silent buildings.She let the curtain fall. She walked back to the couch. She lay down. She closed her eyes.The phone buzzed.She grabbed it. Her heart pounded. A new message. From t
The morning came too fast. Raven woke to the sound of Fenris moving around her apartment. She opened her eyes. He was already dressed. Dark suit. Tie. His hair was combed back. He looked like a different person. Like the man she had met at the gala. Cold. Controlled. Distant. He was packing a small bag. She sat up. "You are leaving." "I have to." "When will you be back?" "Tomorrow. Maybe the day after." "Fenris." He stopped. He turned to face her. His gray eyes were soft. "I do not want to go." "Then do not." "I have to. It is business. My father built this empire, and I have to keep it running. At least until I figure out what to do with it." She got out of bed. She walked toward him. She stopped in front of him. "I do not like this." "I know." "I do not like being alone." "You will not be alone. I will call you. I will text you. I will be back before you know it." "Promise?" "Promise." He reached out. His hand touched her face. His thumb traced h
The morning was quiet. Too quiet.Raven sat on the couch, her knees pulled to her chest, a cold mug of coffee in her hands. She had not touched it. She could not drink. Her stomach was tight. Her mind was racing. The conversation with Dante replayed in her head over and over. His cold voice. His empty eyes. The way he had said her name like it was a threat.Fenris paced in front of her. Back and forth. Back and forth. His hands were clenched. His jaw was tight. He had not slept. Neither had she. They had lain in bed together, but neither of them had closed their eyes. The weight of Dante's threat hung over them like a storm cloud."He threatened you," Fenris said. His voice was low. Rough."I know.""He sat you down in his house and told you he would make you disappear.""I know.""And you want me to do nothing?""I want you to think.""I have been thinking. That is all I have been doing. And every time I think, I get angrier."He stopped pacing. He turned to face her. His gray eyes w
The morning was quiet. Too quiet.Raven sat on the couch, her knees pulled to her chest, her phone in her hand. Fenris was beside her, his arm draped over her shoulders, his thumb tracing lazy circles on her arm. They had not spoken much since the night before. There was nothing left to say. Everything had been said. Everything had been broken. Everything had been rebuilt.But the silence was not peaceful. It was waiting.She knew something was coming. She could feel it. The air was thick with it. The calm before the storm.Her phone buzzed.She looked at the screen. An unknown number. She hesitated. She almost did not answer."Raven."The voice on the other end was smooth. Calculated. Familiar. She had only heard it once before, but she would never forget it.Dante Vlad.Her blood ran cold. Her hand tightened around the phone."Mr. Vlad.""I would like to invite you to dinner tonight. At my home. There is something we need to discuss.""Discuss?""Yes. About my son. About your relati
The drive to Harvey's apartment felt longer than it was.Fenris gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles went white. The city blurred past him. The lights smeared into streaks of gold and red. He did not see any of it. He saw only Harvey's face. He heard only Harvey's voice. He replayed the phone call over and over in his head.He knows we were together last night.He knows you stayed.He knows everything.He parked outside Harvey's building. He did not bother with the parking lot. He left the car in the middle of the street. He walked through the lobby. He did not wait for the elevator. He took the stairs. Three floors. Two at a time. His heart was pounding. His hands were shaking.He pushed open the door to Harvey's apartment. It was unlocked. Harvey was sitting on the couch, a glass of wine in his hand, his gray eyes calm. He looked like he had been waiting."Fenris," he said. "I was wondering when you would get here.""Tell me it is not true.""Tell you what is not true?""
The morning light was gray and thin, slipping through the blinds like water through cracked glass. Raven lay still, her cheek pressed against Fenris's chest, his arm wrapped around her waist. His heartbeat was steady beneath her ear. Slow. Calm. Alive. She did not move. She did not want to wake him. She did not want to break whatever fragile thing had settled between them in the night. He had held her like she was the only thing keeping him alive. He had whispered her name like a prayer. He had kissed her forehead, her cheek, her lips. Soft. Tender. Like he was afraid she would disappear. She had stayed. She had held him back. She had let herself be held. But the weight of everything else was still there. The fire. The bodies. The truth. The USB drive. The proof. The knowledge that the man holding her had killed her parents. She closed her eyes. She tried to push it away. She could not. She slipped out of bed. Her feet touched the cold floor. She grabbed his shirt from the chair
She did not remember driving home.The streets blurred past her windows, headlights smearing into streaks of gold and white. Her hands were steady on the wheel. Her foot was heavy on the gas. But her mind was somewhere else. In the basement. On the concrete floor. In the pool of blood spreading slo
Raven ran.Her bare feet slapped against the concrete floor, then the wooden stairs, then the cold marble of the hallway. She did not look back. She could not look back. If she looked back, she would see his face, and his face would freeze her in place.The basement door swung shut behind her. She
The scream tore through the mansion at three in the morning.Raven woke with her heart in her throat, the sheets twisted around her legs, her body drenched in cold sweat. The sound had come from beside her, from him, from Fenris. His body was rigid, his jaw clenched, his hands fisted in the blanket
The mansion had corridors Raven had never walked, doors she had never opened, shadows she had never tried to understand. She had been staying with him for weeks, slipping into his life like water into cracks in stone. She knew the kitchen, the bedroom, the living room with its fireplace and tall wi







