Page 3

THE SHADOW

I kneeled in front of my brother’s grave and pressed the blade I’d named in his honor against my stomach, its cold steel biting into my skin.

I imagined Ty laughing from deep below the earth where he lay.

“Forgive me, Ty,” I whispered to the wind as it whipped through the towering yew and cypress trees flanking the winding gravel paths of Glasnevin Cemetery, their gnarled branches entwined above to create shadowy arches.

Around me, Celtic crosses and ornate Victorian headstones jutted from the earth, their once-crisp inscriptions eroded by the relentless touch of time, some markers leaning precariously, bowed under the weight of decades, their surfaces cloaked in moss and lichen.

The same way I was bowed over Ty’s grave.

If I couldn’t rest beside Ava, then I’d lie here, near my brother.

They were the only two people I loved. The only two who mattered .

“If she’s gone, then…” My voice cracked, the words catching in my throat. “I don’t want to live.”

I sucked in a breath, trying to summon the courage to do what needed to be done. I closed my eyes, willing myself forward, the weight of everything pressing down on me like a storm I couldn’t outrun. And I—

My phone buzzed.

The sound jolted me, breaking through the haze of despair.

My jaw clenched, irritation flaring at the interruption. Of all the times—

I closed my eyes tighter, gripping the knife harder, trying to block out the noise. I was so close. Just a breath away from ending this torment.

The phone buzzed again.

I growled under my breath, scowling as I dropped the knife with a soft thud onto the grass beside me.

My hand shot to my pocket, pulling out the phone with shaking fingers, ready to silence whatever had dared to intrude.

Then I saw it—the notification. And I froze.

Ava’s name.

For a moment, I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, my mind racing to catch up.

The program I’d written, the one I’d set to bug Ebony’s mansion phone, had just triggered.

An alert every time Ava’s name was mentioned. My thumb hovered over the screen as my heart thundered in my chest.

I tapped it, activating the playback.

“Ebony? It’s me. Ava. ”

Her voice. Her voice—so familiar, so real—stabbed into me like a knife, but not one of pain. Relief flooded through me, sharp and overwhelming, washing over the despair like a tide, leaving me breathless.

She was alive.

I let out a strangled gasp, my vision blurring as tears welled up. My chest shook, and I nearly started sobbing right there in the cold dirt beside Ty’s grave.

Every ounce of the weight crushing me seconds ago evaporated, replaced by something I couldn’t name. Relief. Hope. A sliver of salvation.

I clutched the phone tighter, my pulse thundering in my ears.

She was alive. And I wasn’t going to let her slip away again.

My breath caught, the rush of relief faltering as a new, sharper fear clawed its way up my throat. What if it’s a trick? A trap?

I stared at the phone in my hand, my heart pounding so loudly I could barely think.

The Society—they were clever, ruthless. What if they’d figured it out? What if they knew I was the one getting rid of their members? They could be threatening her, forcing her to say those words.

I glanced over to the dead Dr. Hickey lying nearby, eyes lifeless and mouth open in a final plea.

Dr. Vale.

Mr. Byrne, Liath’s adopted father.

Mr. Heeley. Sarah’s father.

And now Dr. Hickey. Keela’s father.

Luring me out would be the perfect move .

My thumb hesitated over the screen, my pulse quickening. It could be doctored. Her voice, her words— I hit replay, needing to hear it again.

“Ebony? It’s me. Ava.”

I listened closely, analyzing every inflection, every breath.

I’d know Ava’s voice anywhere. It haunted me in my sleep. It was her , raw and unpolished, the same tone she always used when she was trying to sound calm but wasn’t.

Still, the knot of panic refused to loosen.

Ebony’s voice, warm and familiar, broke through the static. “Oh, my darling girl. It’s been so long. I thought you were in Croatia for the rest of the holidays?”

Croatia? That didn’t make sense.

My brows furrowed as I leaned closer, straining to catch every word.

“Oh, yeah. Right.” Ava’s voice, quick and awkward, carried that telltale hesitation I knew too well. “I thought I’d surprise everyone, caught an early flight home. Only, uh, my flight to Dublin got redirected… I’m stuck near Shannon Airport.”

My mind raced, caught between the flood of relief that she was alive and the gnawing doubt that something far more dangerous was going on.

Shannon? Why Shannon? That was on the literal other side of Ireland. And why the hesitation?

Ava was a terrible liar, but why would she lie to Ebony about where she’d been? Why wouldn’t she tell Ebony the truth? Why not say she’d been kidnapped?

If anyone would believe her, it was Ebony. She was a surgeon; she’d had enough broken people on her table to know how dark this world could get .

Unless… Ava didn’t want to scare her.

That sounded like Ava. Always trying to protect people, even when it was she who needed protecting. Always so damn stubborn, carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders, like she had something to prove.

But the thought didn’t ease the knot in my stomach. If she was alive—and it really was her—then she was still in danger. Whatever lie she was spinning, it meant she didn’t feel safe enough to tell the truth.

That was enough to make my blood run cold.

How the hell did she escape from the Society? The thought ricocheted through my mind, sharp and unrelenting.

Nobody escaped them. Not without help. Not without blood.

Was it even possible?

Ava wasn’t weak, far from it, but the Society didn’t let its prey go willingly. She couldn’t have overpowered them, not on her own. So how? Who helped her? Why had they let her live?

The Society didn’t leave loose ends.

If she’d escaped, they’d be hunting her. And if she hadn’t escaped… I clenched my teeth as a cold knot of suspicion formed in my gut.

What if this wasn’t an escape at all? What if they let her go? That thought twisted like a blade in my side.

The Society didn’t take chances. If she was free, it was because they wanted her to be. They’d use her, turn her into a trap, a pawn in a game I wasn’t even seeing yet.

I rubbed my temples, trying to think, to focus. If Ava had escaped, it wasn’t a miracle—it was a move. A deliberate, calculated move. And I needed to figure out who had made it… before they used her to destroy us both.

“Could you send someone to pick me up?” Ava’s voice wavered, just enough to set my nerves on edge.

“Of course, Ava,” Ebony replied, her voice softening, warm with relief. “I’ve… I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too, Ebony,” Ava said, and I could hear the crack of emotion in her tone, the kind of vulnerability she rarely let show.

My chest tightened, the weight of everything pressing in on me suddenly lighter, as if I could finally take a full breath.

Ava was alive. She was really alive.

The words replayed in my head, over and over, like a lifeline I hadn’t realized I was gripping.

She was coming home.

And I would be there to meet her.