Being near Julian made me feel sick.

I escaped to my mother’s room.

Perhaps they considered her less dangerous now. She was no longer strapped to the bed.

Instead, a chain roughly ten feet long fastened one ankle, keeping her from getting away.

She stood with her back to me, facing the sealed window.

As I approached, I saw the pillow in her arms.

She held it like a baby.

Rocking it.

Quietly soothing the child she imagined there.

I thought I had cried myself dry.

Every time I saw my mother, I learned otherwise.

“Mom.”

I put my arms around her and buried my face beside her neck.

The pain made speech almost impossible.

The guilt felt like dying again.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Stop looking for me. Forget me. Please.”

For the first time, I understood Tessa.

Leaving could be release.

The people left behind were the ones who suffered.

I looked at my mother’s worn, ravaged face.

I forced a smile.

“If there is another life, let me be the mother. You can be my daughter. I’ll protect you. I’ll stay with you.”

I remained beside her until she grew tired of standing.

She returned to bed, still holding the pillow, and closed her eyes.

I curled into the space inside her arms, small as a child in the womb.

For a moment, I felt a warmth I had never known.

The door opened.

Julian walked in.

I sprang from the bed and spread my arms in front of my mother.

I stared at him with hatred.

If he hurt her again, I would give everything to stop him.

Flora had said I had two chances left to touch something real.

Even if using them meant I never exposed my own murder, I would do it for her.

He stopped a step away.

The aide behind him spoke.

“She’s been much quieter these last two days.”

He nodded.

“Thank you. Give her a few more days. Once she’s completely settled, I’ll send someone to collect her and take her back to her hometown.”

He still wouldn’t leave her alone.

She posed no threat now.

Wasn’t even that enough?

“What more do you want?” I shouted. “Look what you’ve done to her. Can’t you let her live? If I ever find a way back, Julian, I’ll make you wish you were dead.”

He left.

I followed, staring at him with a hatred that could have cut him apart if hatred had hands.

He checked the news on his phone.

The company had issued a statement calling the incident a misunderstanding.

It included footage of officers escorting him out of the station.

He reposted it with a single sentence.

“A clear conscience needs no defense.”

“You lying bastard. There isn’t a dirtier soul alive.”

He opened the company website.

His photograph filled the main page.

The title beneath it had changed.

Chief Executive Officer.

Officially.

He smiled.

Then he called Theodore Sterling.

“Thank you for helping me, Mr. Sterling.”

Two rough coughs sounded down the line.

The elderly voice that followed carried effortless authority.

“The next supply needs to be ready within three years. Find it early. Make the arrangements.”

“Already done.” Julian smiled. “I’ve found the perfect match. Very young. Three years will be just right.”

Cold moved through me.

Supply.

They were talking about people.

Living people.

I tried to put the pieces together.

Apparently, the organs Julian supplied weren’t a permanent solution.

Tessa’s liver would keep Sterling alive for three years.

Then he would need another.

Another person would die.

“Do powerful people get to live because everyone else is disposable?”

Julian said he had already chosen someone.

Very young.

Ellie’s face flashed through my mind.

I nearly fell.

That was why Pearl had tried to take her out of Starlight Academy.

They had selected her.

In three years, she would be nine.

I could still see Tessa’s body.

Still remember every moment on that operating table.

The thought of Ellie suffering the same fate destroyed what little control I had.

I threw myself at Julian.

“Why don’t you die? You heartless fucking animal!”

I went through him.

Again.

Again.

Not a mark.

“Mr. Sterling, I’m grateful you intervened personally,” he continued. “But Lucian won’t let this go. He may take his anger out on you.”

“That brat ought to address me as his grandfather’s cousin.”

Sterling snorted, though his confidence seemed to weaken.

“If he dares cause trouble, I’ll take it to Blackwood Castle. Someone in that family must be able to control him.”

Julian had reached the entrance.

“Then I won’t worry on your behalf.”

A few more polite words, and he ended the call.

His car waited outside.

He took out his keys and reached for the door.

Two masked men appeared beside him.

A black hood went over his head.

I startled.

One of them drew an expandable baton and began hitting him through the bag.

Beautiful.

I couldn’t add a kick of my own, so I applauded.

Something on the inside of the hood must have sedated him. He struggled twice, then went still.

An SUV pulled up.

Knox was driving.

I wasn’t surprised.

This direct approach was entirely Lucian’s style.

Julian still didn’t understand him.

Lucian didn’t nurse grudges.

He settled them immediately.