A breath slips between my lips. My face feels numb. All the blood in my body stops moving.

It’s very nearly like looking in a mirror.

That’s my jawline. That’s my exact nose. Our hair is nearly the exact same shade. Same ears. Same eye shape.

My lips are just slightly fuller than hers. My brow isn’t quite as strong. I’m slightly shorter than she is, but with a few more curves.

But everyone has been right.

I look just like her.

And finally, I can’t deny it myself.

“You’re so young.” The words slip out of my mouth before I can think about them.

And she smiles, and a little laugh rushes over her lips.

“I guess there are some perks to immortality,” she says, smiling and looking me over.

What I said is true. Alivia Ryan Conrath looks hardly older than myself. Maybe a few years, but not much.

She looks like…like she could be my sister, and the both of us should be heading out for a night on the town.

She doesn’t look anything like a woman who has been the leader of a House for sixteen years.

“I…” I shake my head, trying to get myself together. “I mean, I knew you’d been Resurrected for a while, I guess I just had this picture of you in my head. You looked…”

“A lot closer to your mother’s age?” she takes a guess.

Her eyes are full of fear, nerves. Her throat is tight, and I can smell the sweat on her palms.

I nod. “I guess.”

I finally take a look around, now that the initial shock of seeing Alivia for the first time is over.

The inside of the house is even more beautiful than I expected. A beautiful staircase wraps around the entry and rises to the second floor. Beyond this space, I can see a great ballroom. Ornate carvings are inlaid into the walls. Gold and blue and green are scattered everywhere.

Above us, I find a brilliant, gorgeous chandelier.

It’s stunning.

Cyrus’ house that he bought back in Greendale was beautiful. But it is nothing compared to Alivia’s house.

I realize now that there had been a long, weighted silence, and I look back to my birth mother.

Her eyes are fixed on Rath, who stands beside me with my brother slung over his shoulders.

“Rath,” she says in an emotional whisper. “It is so good to see you.”

She rushes forward and wraps her arms around the man she sent to watch over me, all those years ago.

Balancing Eshan, he wraps one arm around Alivia, and I see the complicated emotions on his face as he presses his cheek into the top of her head. He squeezes his eyes closed tightly, his lips pressed into a thin line.

They might have a complicated past, whatever it is, just like Cyrus, but it’s evident in every inch of his face. Rath loves Alivia. Cares a very great deal for her.

“It is good to be home,” he says. And as soon as he says the word, I know he truly means home with every single syllable.

There’s still so, so much I don’t know about Rath.

“I assume this is your brother?” Alivia asks as she releases Rath, looking from Eshan to me.

I nod. “He was turned a few days ago. I…” I shake my head. “I don’t even know what to tell my parents. They think he ran off to see some girl he met online. I don’t know what he’s supposed to tell them when you fix him and he goes back.”

“I’m afraid we all have stories to tell when we get involved with this world,” she says with a tired expression.

Something sharp and hot spikes inside my chest at her words.

I swallow once, but nod, instead of opening my mouth and spilling vile words.

“I’d love to just sit and…talk,” Alivia says, turning hopeful eyes on me. “But I’m sure you’re hungry, and tired from a really long road trip,” she chuckles just a little. “Why don’t we get your brother settled, and then you can eat?”

I nod. I don’t speak, because right now I can’t sort all my emotions out.

She leads us to a hallway that breaks off to the north. It’s long, and I see a dozen doors scattered on either side. She walks halfway down it, and swings it open.

It reveals a beautiful bedroom, decorated in gold and green. A massive bed sits in the middle. Behind it, thick curtains are pulled over the windows, blocking out the light that will soon be filling the world. Off to the left, I see a simple bathroom attached.

“How much longer will he be out for?” Alivia asks as Rath carefully lays him on the bed.

“Another ten or so hours,” Rath answers, brushing back Eshan’s hair from his forehead.

And I remember, Rath has been watching me, watching my family, for Eshan’s entire life.

Alivia nods. “We’ll come back in a while then, give him the cure while he sleeps, so he doesn’t even have to feel the pain.”

“Pain?” I ask, my eyes whipping up to hers.

She gives a little nod. “Just for a minute or so. But yes, it does always seem to be painful.”

I shake my head. “Rath, you said Cyrus knows about this cure. But he’s still outlawed the very existence of the Bitten. I… How did this cure even come into existence?”

A brief look is exchanged between Alivia and Rath. But she looks back at me with confidence and answers in her eyes.

“My sister-in-law, Elle,” she offers, “is a brilliant chemist. Back when she was in college, about your age actually, she developed the cure, with the help of another woman. She was risking her own life, helping innocent victims who had been turned. This was several years after Cyrus outlawed the existence of the Bitten. She eventually confessed everything to Cyrus. And he pardoned her. He told her to stop what she was doing, which she did. But we both still have some of the cure. Just for special cases, like your brother.”

I swallow once, my throat feeling tight. I understand that risk Elle was taking. How dangerous it is for Alivia to even have any of this cure in her possession, considering Cyrus told them to stop.

“Thank you,” I say. And that’s all I can manage.

Alivia just nods once. She steps out of the room, and Rath and I follow her back down the hall.

We cross the foyer once more, and to the south side. We enter into a beautiful kitchen, where a man works furiously on some food.

He’s human. I can smell it.

“Everything is just about finished, Alivia,” he says, wrapping things up.

“Thanks, Parker,” she says.

“Alivia,” Rath asks, looking around. “Where is everyone?”

She looks around, as well. She blushes just a little bit. “I asked the House to give us some space. At least for a few hours, or whenever I tell them they can come back. I thought it might be better to have some time, with just us, before we introduce everyone else.”

I nod, grateful.

Alivia gestures to a smaller, informal dining table just to the side of the kitchen. Awkwardly, I work my way to it, sitting in a chair across from Alivia.

She rests her head in her hand, her elbow on the table, and just looks at me.

My eyes dart away, feeling uncomfortable under her gaze.

“How are you adjusting?” she finally asks.

My chest tightens. My fingers curl into fists in my lap.

I shrug. “It’s…it’s not easy. But not in a way anyone else can understand.”

Her eyes fill with sadness. She gets what I’m talking about.

“How…how long has it been, since you woke up?”

I know she’s not just talking about a nap, or a good nights sleep.

“Five nights,” I supply.

Her eyes grow wide, her face blanching just a little bit. “Five nights? You…” She shakes her head, a look of respect on her face. “You seem to have some pretty incredible control for it being such a little amount of time. I would have drained Parker in about ten seconds just five nights after I woke up.”

She points her thumb over her shoulder at the human man now wrapping things up in the kitchen.

“I had a snack just before we got into town,” I say, feeling uncomfortable at the confession.

Alivia lets out another breath though, shaking her head. “Still. Those first few weeks, they weren’t easy for me.”

I nod, swallowing once. “I guess it’s easier, because I knew what to expect. I’ve done this just a few times before.”

She sits back in her seat, her eyes sobering.

Right.

Parker carries over a few platters, setting them on the table before us.

Thick French toast, scrambled eggs. Piles of fruit. A pitcher of orange juice.

And a pitcher of blood.

“Hope you’re hungry,” Alivia says. Her voice is quiet and tight.

I am actually. My stomach gives a growl, reminding me that I haven’t eaten anything since we left Dallas early last night. And even then, it was only an apple and a cheese stick.

I begin dishing food onto my plate.

I glance awkwardly at Rath, and note how stiff and uncomfortable even he seems.

“So, why don’t you tell me about yourself, …” she trails off, and it takes me a moment to realize she’s questioning what to call me.

No one, not even myself seems to know the answer to that.

“Just…” I shake my head awkwardly. “Just Logan, for now.”

“Logan,” she says, smiling a little smile. “I’d like to learn more about you, your life. If you don’t mind.”

I sigh, already tired and overwhelmed.

“I…” Alivia struggles to find the words. “I get it. This is awkward, and weird, and probably way too soon. I don’t think either of us was really prepared for this to happen yet. But,” she reaches across the table and gently covers my hand with hers. “Here we are.”

I look up at her, and I try. I try really hard to piece this woman into the picture I always had of my birth mother. But nothing, not a single bit of her, matches.

Still, I nod.

“I’m guessing you already know some things,” I say as I cut into the French toast. “I’m sure Rath has reported plenty of details. Considering he’s been watching me for you, most of my life.”

Electric and heavy. The air could suffocate us all.

“I…”

But I cut Alivia off. “It’s fine,” I say around my bite, chewing and speaking at the same time. I feel my Logan-esque defenses rising, the bitter and the bold gathering inside of me.

“I was placed with a family in Greendale,” I say. “I don’t know how close you lived to there when you…had me.”

“A smaller town, about an hour from there,” she says, still tense and defensive.

I nod. “My parents names are Gemma and Ethan Pierce. They couldn’t have kids of their own. I lived in a nice, red brick house in a quiet family neighborhood my entire life.” I stab my fork into a strawberry and pop it into my mouth. “When I was five, my parents adopted my brother, Eshan. He was one. It was a pretty normal childhood.”

I look over at Rath, who chews slowly, watching my face the entire time.

“Rath stepped into my life in a public way when I was fourteen,” I continue the condensed story of my entire life, the one this woman was never a part of. “He became friends with my parents, and soon he was just always there. Like an uncle and a friend.”

I still can’t cope with that. The history between us, the family dinners, the laughs at the end of the driveway. The time he helped me study for a US history test. How proud he was when I got my degree.

But I now realize I never really knew anything about him. Who he was? Where he came from? Why he was always there?

“I graduated from high school,” I suddenly continue, snapping my eyes back to Alivia. “Then I went to college.”

“You have a degree already?” she asks. Her voice is so timid.

I realize she’s terrified.

I can’t blame her.

There’s a lot of aspects about this that are so heavy.

I nod. “Just an associates, which was all I needed for what I went into.”

“Which is?” she encourages.

I swallow once.

She knows all of this.

Surely she knows all of this.

Rath has been spying on me my entire life and reporting back to her.

“Mortuary science,” I say in a hard voice. My grip on my fork tightens, and instantly it bends to the shape of my fingers.

All eyes snap to it. I release it, and it collapses to the table. It makes a loud clatter, one that rings throughout this entire, huge house.

“I really loved my job,” I say quietly. I think back, to the quiet moments in the preparation room. Just me and the dead. They were such good listeners. They all had such great life stories. “I really wanted to work there for a long time.”

A quiet, weighted moment follows.

For a moment, I finally get a second to mourn.

My human life. The life I’d worked so hard for.

Gone.

Over.

“I’m so sorry,” Alivia says, reaching over once more and placing her hand on mine.

I slide my hand back, tucking it into my lap under the table.

My phone vibrates in my pocket. Grateful for the momentary distraction and release of all this…pressure building inside of me, I pull it out.

I just wanted you to know that I have been thinking about you all night.

And then a second message. How are you?

Cyrus.

My heart flutters and I let my eyes slide closed for a moment.

Our moments together, if only connected through this phone, come rushing back to me. The connection I felt. The comfort in hearing his voice. The memories that washed over me. The amount of time I knew he’d spent looking for me. Searching.

My jaw tightens, heat sparks in my chest.

I let my eyes slide open.

Falling on Alivia Ryan Conrath.

“I’ve heard a lot about you. From the House of Valdez. From Rath. From Cyrus.”

The cold in my voice widens Alivia’s eyes. She stops breathing and leans back in her chair, her fingers curling into tight fists.

“I heard you knew nothing about your heritage, just like me,” I say. That familiar acid rises in my blood. It takes over, turning my vision fuzzy and gray. “But that once you knew your place, you rose to the occasion.”

I wrap my hand around the glass of blood. My fingers tighten, and there’s a single popping sound as the glass cracks just a tiny bit.

I raise it to my lips, taking a sip.

I enjoy the taste of it as it slides over my tongue. I enjoy the cooling sensation as it slips down my throat. The utter satisfaction as it hits my stomach.

“I haven’t heard details,” I continue. “But there are certainly legends of your…plots to gain followers. You knew how to read people, how to work them to get what you want.”

“Logan-” she begins to defend.

But I continue on.

“I heard you actually married the man who everyone says broke your heart and pushed you to do some very questionable things. You must be a very forgiving person.”

“Logan,” Rath growls low and dark.

“I guess it runs in our blood,” I say. “You forgave Ian Ward, and I keep forgiving Cyrus. The only difference is, Cyrus never turned his back on me.”

“You have no idea what Ian has been through,” Alivia says, her voice sparking with defense and anger. “What his family put him through. Ian is a good man.”

My eyes harden, just as my heart does. “And what about you, Alivia? Is someone who toys with someone else’s heart to console their own broken one a good person? Is someone who kisses a man she’s leading on, and could have gotten him killed, a good person?”

Her face is stunned. Frozen in a mask of horror and shock.

“Is someone who left me in the dark, only to let my life be cut short because a member of the House of Valdez recognized me, you, and dragged me into this mess, a good person? Is a person who asks someone to live a life of lies for sixteen years,” I wave a hand in Rath’s direction, “a good person?”

Alivia suddenly stands and slaps her hands down on the table. Her eyes ignite red, her expression livid. “Well, this certainly is not how I imagined this moment. You do not know me, Logan. Others can tell the story however they like. But you don’t know what me, or my husband, have been through, and the battles we’ve had to fight to carve out this life for us, and everyone around us. How dare you judge me, us, when you don’t really know anything.”

“I know that I have never seen Cyrus speak with the hardness he does when he talks about you, Alivia,” I growl as I, too, stand, staring at this woman across the table. “Cyrus has had many, many enemies over the years, but none have left scars like you have.”

She’s silent for a moment. I see it in her eyes, she replays whatever happened between the two of them, recalling their past that I really don’t want to know anything about.

But they regain their focus, finding me in front of her once more.

“You’re right,” she says. “I made mistakes. I wasn’t kind or careful with Cyrus. I did make him believe. I made him hope. But the King is not innocent in any of this, either.”

My blood heats to a boiling point. I feel my fangs lengthen just slightly. “What did he ever do to you?” I’m not quite yelling, but almost.

Rath’s hand suddenly darts out, gripping mine.

I look over at him. There’s darkness in his eyes. A warning. The truth. He shakes his head just slightly.

Alivia straightens. With cold hardness in her eyes, she reaches up to the neckline of her shirt. She tugs it down, exposing her chest a bit.

She reveals a scar there.

Not just a scar. A brand.

The skin is red and rippled. But I see it there, clear as day. The shape of a crest, a raven set at the center. The exact same as the crest in Rath’s ring.

“It’s not just what he did to me,” she says. “But to every member of the House of Conrath.”

My breathing comes out hard. I’m wired. I’m an explosive about to set off. A warrior ready to fight to the death over the man I love.

I’m capable of a lot right now. A lot of danger. A lot of blood.

So I do the only safe thing.

I walk away.

But this is not my House. This is not my territory.

I don’t know anyone here. I don’t know anything about this town. I don’t know anything about this entire side of the country.

So I go to the only familiar thing for thousands of miles.

I walk to Eshan’s room, and close the door behind me.