Page 109 of Shifting Hearts

Her eyes flashed. “You changed it? Why? If you’d kept them, I would have known.”

Irene’s voice cut through the silence, quiet but steady. “What do you mean?”

The fire in the library crackled low, shadows stretching along the rows of bookshelves.

“She spoke about her family. How they didn’t exist anymore. I thought she meant they had died. That’s why she ran when she discovered I was a Chase.”

“What?” we all asked at once.

“It was Morgan,” Em said, her eyes dropping to the floor. “He came to visit and tipped her off that I was a Chase, lied about the surname I gave her.”

I straightened. “You lied about who you are?”

Her head snapped up, eyes burning. “Please, don’t start. You never cared.”

“Emily, I do care. I just…”

“What? You just what?”

“It’s not easy.” My chest tightened, my heart racing. “Fuck. Shit.”

“Jace, calm down.” Annie was beside me in an instant, her hand brushing my arm. But her touch didn’t steady me. Everything Gabby had said, everything we had buried, clawed its way back to the surface. I should never have stopped searching for her.

A knock sounded, heavy against the carved oak doors. They swung open, and Gabby slipped inside first. The air shifted, Morgan’s scent rushed in before Gabby closed the door.

“Why isn’t she coming in?” I demanded.

Gabby’s voice was sharp. “Sit down, Jace. Keep your distance. Listen before you do something stupid. You need all the facts. It’s Morgan, but not the way you want it to be. She goes by Natasha now. She refuses to be called Morgan. And she’s not staying.”

“Gabby—”

“We fucked up,” she snapped. “Big time. She’s not staying.”

“She can’t be alone either,” Em said quietly.

Gabby softened, brushing a hand over Em’s cheek. “She won’t. I promise.”

“Aunt Gabby,” Em whispered.

Gabby’s jaw tightened. “She’s my best friend. Not yours.”

Em gave a short, bitter laugh, but I couldn’t untangle any of it. My head spun.

Gabby turned to me, her gaze steady. “Listen, okay?”

I forced a nod.

She crossed the library and pulled the door open again. “They’re waiting.”

This time, she didn’t speak. She just walked in. The scent of her was unmistakable, sweeter, stronger, clinging to the air. Dom didn’t hesitate; he caught her in his arms, lifting her clean off the ground.

“Stop running,” he murmured, his voice breaking. “I don’t care what your past is like. You are family. And you are home.”

“Don’t, please.”

“Fine.” Dom eased her back down onto her feet. “Then let’s hear it. How bad was it?”

Morgan gave a low chuckle. “Oh, it’s bad. It’s messed up.”

Dom only shrugged.

“Don’t do that. I’m not her anymore. Not even close.” She sniffed and crossed to the window, keeping her back to me. She still wouldn’t look my way.

Emily hurried after her. “We can leave whenever you want, okay? I promise.”

Morgan’s hand trembled as she touched Emily’s cheek. “I’m sorry.”

Emily shook her head and pulled her into a hug.

Then Morgan’s voice sharpened. “Why did you change their names?”

The question was for me. My throat tightened, vision blurring with tears.

“Jason,” she snapped, “I’m asking you a fucking question.”

My own anger rose to meet hers. “Where the hell were you? Why didn’t you come back?”

“I tried!” Her voice cracked. “Every house I knew was gone. Either you’d never lived there or it hadn’t even been built. Richard’s companies weren’t his yet. And Irene’s organization helped, but it couldn’t bring me to her.”

“Sweetheart,” Irene whispered gently.

Morgan’s gaze softened, but only for a moment. “You didn’t know me then. So it’s understandable. But it wasn’t easy. And I realized it would always be like this, every time I jumped back, I’d face the same struggle. Always trying to survive just to find you.”

“So I did the only thing I thought might help.” She lifted her chin, eyes burning. “I became a vampire.”

“How?” I asked.

She let out a bitter huff. “Steven. He was the only one I knew. I gave him a different name.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, Jace. It felt right at the time. I thought he’d change me, but I was wrong.”

“Did Steven ever call you?” Annie asked softly. “It was only you who met him there, Jace.”

“No. He didn’t.”

“Wait,” Bobby cut in. His eyes widened. “You gave him the name Natasha?”

She nodded once.

Bobby leaned forward. “He did call you, Jace. I was with you. That time in Denver. You got that strange call. He asked if you told someone about the way you two meet.”

The memory slammed into me. That call. Shit. That was her. My gaze found hers, and the weight in my gut turned heavy and sick.

“So he called you,” she said hoarsely. “It doesn’t matter, though. You wouldn’t have remembered me.”

“I would’ve known you if I saw you.” My voice shook. “You’re my Lockpass, Morgan.”

Her jaw clenched. “It’s Natasha now.”

“I don’t care what you call yourself. You’re still my Lockpass.”

Her eyes hardened. “Not this time.”

The room fell into silence. Gabby’s breath sounded harsh in the stillness. Then she spoke. “Tell them.”

Morgan’s gaze flickered toward me. “The dreams I had on the cruise line when I first started losing it. Do you remember?”

It was her. My throat tightened as I nodded.

“I used to see myself as a vampire,” Morgan whispered. “I never told you because it sounded insane. The visions stopped after Asim took me. But years later, I started dreaming again. This time about her. About Blaze.”

I nodded, throat tight.

Her eyes shifted to Ryan and Em. “Please, can you give us a couple of minutes?”

Em’s face crumpled. “You want me to leave?”

“Em, please.”

“No,” Ryan cut in sharply. “If you’re really our mother, I need to know why you couldn’t come back to us.”

Morgan’s voice trembled. “It’s not a pretty story.”

“I don’t care,” Ryan shot back.

“You say that now,” she sighed, shaking her head. “But later you will. And… it doesn’t matter anymore.”

Gabby touched her arm, steadying her. “It will be okay. Just tell them.”

Morgan sniffed and nodded. “Fine. I lied. I told you she had red hair. She didn’t. The reason I couldn’t handle those dreams… was because I saw myself doing them.”

Gasps echoed around the room. My chest constricted. What was she saying?

“They weren’t dreams, Jace,” she said softly.

“No.” I surged to my feet, pacing the length of the library. “No, you’re not that thing. You’re not that monster.”

Her eyes glistened. “I was tethered to this life. The coven he delivered me to had a mistress. I’d never seen one that large.”

Dom frowned. “The one in the South? That was your coven.”

She shook her head. “No. I was just her weapon. She hated my human life, hated what I was. I was a terrible nightling, never good enough to do what she wanted. Her hatred only grew. She tried to kill me, over and over. And every time, someone stepped in to save me. People who cared for me. People I killed in the end, because I didn’t remember them. ”

My voice broke. “What do you mean you didn’t remember them?”

Her gaze cut into me like glass. “You had one fucking job, Jace. Kill her. Make sure she was dead. Not leave her half-dying so someone else could turn her.”

“What are you talking about?”

Her lips trembled, but her words were cold. “Turns out, you’re still married to your first wife. Which means ours doesn’t count.”

“No, she was dead.” Annie’s voice cut in.

Morgan’s eyes darkened. “Steven changed her. She’s not dead.”

Annie staggered back a step, her face draining of color. Her chest rose too fast, ragged. “No, no. She was dead .”

Dom wrapped his arms around his wife, and tried to calm her down.

“Fuck, I knew it,” Zack muttered. “I told you that leech would betray you.”

“Zack!” Gabby snapped.

“Sorry, no offense.”

Morgan’s voice was quiet, almost resigned. “It’s fine. I understand.”

Annie pressed a trembling hand to her throat. Her breathing hitched, sharp and uneven.

“So Steven knew this entire time that Adrienne exists,” Dom said.

“Her name is Cassandra now,” Morgan replied.

“On graduation day, I could barely stand. I wasn’t chosen to become a vampire.

I was livestock for the two she changed.

And then my fire came. I killed them without hesitation.

I was going to kill her too, but then she offered to change me.

I told her I wouldn’t stay. She was fine with that.

When I woke up, I had no memory of who I was.

No conscience. Nothing. She was the only one I wanted. ”

A blood tear slipped down her cheek.

Annie gasped for air, her hands gripping her knees. “I—I can’t breathe.”

“Annie,” Dom crouching low, hands firm on her shoulders. “Look at me. In through your nose, out through your mouth. Slow it down.”

“No,” Annie wheezed, shaking her head violently. “She’s alive, she’s still alive. ” She choked on the words, her chest convulsing.

“Stay with me, Annie,” Dom urged, his voice tight. “Don’t spiral.”

But Annie pressed both hands to her face, her sob muffled, broken. “We killed her. We buried her. And she’s still out there ?—”

The room fell silent, her panic echoing against the library walls.

Ryan’s voice broke the hush. “No, Collin killed Blaze.”

“He didn’t,” Gabby said, her tone raw. “Because it was his sister.”

Morgan lifted her gaze, blood tear staining her cheek. “He told me if he ever found me again, he’d kill me. But I was already dead by then. I didn’t want to live. Alex and Leigh gave me another purpose.”

“Alex and Leigh?” I asked, my voice hoarse.

“Jace, they intrigued me. They pulled me out of that hollow state. They made me want to try again. They showed me a different way to feed. Cass hated it. She despised that my eyes began to change. And when I asked her to let me go she didn’t hesitate.”

“Wait, what?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Morgan said, her voice dropping. “I was the one they were supposed to bring back that day.”

“Fuck.” The word slipped from me as silence dropped over the room, heavy and absolute.

Morgan sniffed. “I didn’t know. But what they were it felt like home.”

A tear streaked hot down my face.

“When she sent Vladimir and Francine after us, I had to protect Alex and Leigh. But a nearby pack came too. I wasn’t strong enough.

I hesitated, second-guessed. It wasn’t like before.

And they died, slaughtered in front of me.

” She rubbed her palms together, trembling. “My fire didn’t help one bit.”

“Wait, you have fire?” Em asked, wide-eyed.

“It’s not my friend, Em.”

“But still,” Em said softly. “It could’ve come in handy when we fed.”

Dom smirked faintly, breaking the heaviness. “Sorry. Gotta admit, it was pretty handy.”

“Em, you’re not listening.” Morgan’s voice cracked. “I was the fucking boogeyman.”

“No,” Emily said firmly. “Maybe a long time ago, but not anymore.”

Morgan muttered something in Afrikaans, low and bitter. I almost laughed at the absurdity of it, but the sound died in my throat.

“Collin let me go,” she continued. “I thought he was the reason I wanted this life. I didn’t even know he was my brother.

He never told me. Just said if I ever thought about starting over, he’d kill me.

If he ever saw me again, he’d finish it.

I’m not an asset, Jace. The wolves will hunt you down just to get to me. ”

“The wolves don’t even know you’re alive.”

“You don’t get it!” Her voice rose, desperate.

“So what?” I snapped. “You were the boogeyman. It’s nothing new. You always were.”

A few soft snickers broke out in the room.

Morgan’s eyes flashed. “It’s not funny.”

“Wait, Dad is Buck!” Emily blurted out.

“Who the hell is Buck?” I asked.

“Don’t, Em. Please.” Morgan’s voice wavered.

“ Ewe! ” Emily shouted. “Ewe, ewe!”

“Who is Buck!” I demanded again.

Morgan’s shoulders hunched. “Nobody. I can’t stay.”

“Fine,” I said, my chest tight. “Everyone, I need a minute. Alone.”

“No.” Her refusal came sharp, almost panicked.

“Please.”

She stared at me, like she could already see where this was going.

“I know you,” she whispered. “Please don’t do this.”

“I just want to ask a couple of things. If you still want to leave afterward, fine.”

For a long moment, she didn’t move. Then Annie slipped her hand into Emily’s. “Let’s go.”

Ryan rose, Dom at his side. Irene passed Morgan on the way out, brushing her arm with a gentle squeeze.

“Don’t, please,” she murmured.

Irene’s lips pressed together. “I won’t. Don’t forget to say goodbye.”

Morgan nodded as Irene followed the others.

One by one, they filed out, until the library fell silent, leaving only me and Morgan in the heavy hush.