Page 47

Joy

I sat on the edge of my queen-sized bed in this gilded cage the Barones called a guest room. Six weeks since that chaotic night, and Maximo’s family had kept me under constant watch. The room wasn’t terrible—a bookshelf, a dresser, and a private bathroom with both tub and shower. Such luxuries. As if comfortable furnishings could make up for the bars on the windows.

“Another beautiful day in the Barone compound,” I whispered, my forced cheerfulness echoing in the emptiness. The habit of finding something positive had kept me going through everything—even now, when I was technically a “guest” rather than a prisoner.

The bars on the windows mocked my escape plans. Before all this, I’d never given much thought to supernatural strength—why would I?

Humans don’t bend steel with their bare hands.

Humans don’t vanish into the night.

Humans don’t drain the life from others with a touch.

Six weeks ago, I didn’t know any of this existed. Six weeks ago, I was normal. Then they took me, and the veil between my mundane world and theirs was violently torn away.