ORE

asn't a choice made in anger, but in the cold, cle

ked the door and stepped out into the hallway, my only goal to retrieve my

Kallie emerged from the shadows of the c

pitying smile. "Fee

. She "tripped," stumbling directly into me. The dark red liquid arced throug

tic gas

to draw every eye f

, her lower lip trembling with practiced hurt. "Aurore...

cess the lie. Before I could even form a den

if

imson stain blooming on her dress. He reached her in three long strides, pullin

ace a mask of rage. "W

e's arm, the way his body shielded hers. Any

id, my voice flat an

e snarled. "I saw yo

rds were an order, laced with t

urore would have bowed her head. The old Auro

ead. She died in a docto

gize for," I said, each

park on a short fuse. I saw the shift

e growled,

hed his A

compelled to obey. It was something cruder. A raw wave of po

to me like a

ard with the wall. A sharp, searing pain shot through my back, and a grunt of agony was forced

her's shriek ech

anding. Eleanor went straight to Kallie, fussing o

his face was etched with a profound, crushing disappo

. No one seemed to notice

bing fire. I looked at them. My mother. My father. My mate. The three people who were sup

ical feeling bubb

ted to

and bitter, laced with a decade of p

their anger momentarily

ed my shoulders, ignoring the protest from my bruised spine.

d as a tombstone. "You're ri

s hang in the

aking this long to see y

the last of my strength. It wa

with the May family. You," I said, looking directly

silence like a bomb. Eleanor's jaw

d as if I had phy

asn't f