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"Please..." he whimpers.

I show him the same mercy they showed Vanessa - none.

When it's all said and done, Vanessa looks up at me, her eyes wide and full of fear. I can easily tell: she doesn't know whether to trust me or run like hell.

CHAPTER24

VANESSA

My mind can't process what I'm seeing. The creature before me has Jack's voice, but everything else is alien—deep red skin that seems to shimmer under the harsh lights, black eyes that hold galaxies in their depths, and those horns... My stomach lurches.

"Vanessa." He takes a step toward me.

I stumble backward, my heel catching on the platform's edge. My body remembers every kiss, every touch, every moment we shared—but it was all with someone who didn't exist. A lie. A mask.

"Don't." My voice cracks. The auction house chaos swirls around us—screaming, fighting, the sound of weapons I've never heard before. But all I can see is him.

"We need to move." His voice is still Jack's, still has that same intensity that made my knees weak at the coffee shop. But now it comes from between sharp teeth, from lips that aren't human.

He reaches for my arm and I jerk away, my breath coming in short gasps. The touch that once set my skin on fire now sends ice through my veins.

"Vanessa, please." His black eyes lock onto mine. "I love you. I will get you out of here. Please trust me."

The words collide like a physical blow. Love. Trust. How can he say those words after everything? After lying about who—what—he is? After putting me in danger? After...

But then I see it. Behind the alien features, behind the horrifying truth of what he is, I see how he looks at me. It's the same look he gave me on that rooftop under the stars. The same look he had when he taught me to make pasta. The same look that made me feel safe, seen, understood.

I want to run. I want to scream. I want to wake up from this nightmare.

But I don't do any of those things. I stand frozen, torn between my fear and something else—something that feels terrifyingly like love.

My heart pounds in my chest as I make my choice. I grab his hand—his skin feels different now, warmer, almost electric—but there's no time to process it. We run.

"Left," he barks, pulling me down a corridor that looks like something out of a sci-fi nightmare. Metal walls pulse with strange blue light. The floor vibrates beneath my feet.

A guard appears—at least I think it's a guard. The creature towers over us, its skin translucent enough that I can see its organs shifting. Jack moves faster than I can track, taking it down with a series of precise strikes.

"Hold still." His fingers work at the collar around my neck. The metal burns cold against my skin before clicking open. I gasp as it falls away, rubbing my throat.

"Arms." He breaks the cuffs with bare hands, the metal crumpling like paper. I flex my wrists, wincing at the raw skin underneath.

More shouts echo behind us. The walls flash red now, and something that sounds like an alarm but feels like it's inside my skull starts blaring.

"Through here." Jack kicks open a door that shouldn't exist—it simply appears in the wall as we approach. The sight makes my head spin, but I follow him through.

We emerge into what looks like a hangar. Strange vehicles hover silently, their shapes defying physics. Jack leads me toward one that's smaller than the rest, sleek and predatory.

"I know this is insane," he says, helping me climb inside. "But right now we need to?—"

A blast of energy scorches the wall beside us. I scream, ducking into the ship's interior.

The ship hums to life around me, lights blinking in patterns that make my eyes hurt.

Jack's fingers move across what must be controls, though they look more like floating crystals than any dashboard I've ever seen. His movements are precise, practiced. How many times has he done this? How many other humans has he...

The ship lurches. My stomach rolls as we shoot upward, the force pressing me deeper into the seat. Through the curved window (is it even glass?), I watch the alien city shrink beneath us. Buildings twist impossibly, their architecture defying gravity.

"They're following." Jack's voice is tight. The ship banks hard right, and I bite back a scream as three sleek shapes appear behind us, trailing streams of blue light.