When the call finally ended, Rune and Kamon were grinning like cats with cream.
“What kind of impression do you think that left?”Klarissa demanded, mortified, ready to murder them both with her fork.
“Exactly the one we wanted,” Kamon said smugly, stealing another kiss to her temple.
“Love, laughter, and forever,” Rune added, lips brushing her cheek as Klarissa groaned and vowed revenge.
As they ate, the three of them began sketching out what the day would look like—Rune and Kamon had a security briefing with Kieran and Liam, Klarissa needed to coordinate with Violet and Dot in the Bat Cave, and later they would regroup to plan defenses for the city.The sense of a ticking clock hovered in the background, making every detail matter.
Rune’s gaze softened.“We mean it, Klarissa.You push yourself too hard—we’ve seen it.We won’t let you burn out.”
Her fork stilled, the weight of his words pulling her smile inward.“You know as well as I do, time is short.Every second matters.”
Kamon reached across, curling his fingers around hers.“It does.But so do you.Don’t forget that.”
She swallowed hard, then forced a lighter tone into her voice.“Fine.You win this round.Breakfast, rest, and then the Bat Cave.”
Rune arched a brow, smirking.“She bargains like a queen, doesn’t she?”
Kamon chuckled.“Our queen.”
Heat rose to Klarissa’s cheeks, but she didn’t look away.For once, she let herself hold the moment—their smiles, their teasing, the promise of more mornings like this—before the storm came crashing back in.
Klarissa made her way to the Bat Cave later that morning, her steps lighter than she would have expected.
“About time you showed up,” Violet called, not looking away from her screens.“I was about to send Dot through the wires to drag your ass down here.”
“Morning to you too,” Klarissa shot back dryly, sliding into her chair.Dot’s laughter carried through the speaker.“She means she missed you.”
“Sure she did,” Klarissa muttered with a smile.The banter made her chest warm.She never would have imagined this as her future—friends, lovers, forever.She’d lived so long in shadows that light like this felt almost alien.
Violet pointed with a pen toward a laptop humming quietly in the corner.“Your machine’s been screaming at me for an hour.Whatever you set it to dig through, it finished.”
Klarissa frowned, pushing to her feet.The laptop’s alert was steady, the report waiting.She clicked it open, her breath catching when she realized what it was—analysis of the information she’d hacked from law enforcement and medical examiner offices in Bangkok.Boonsri’s autopsy.The official record of how Rune and Kamon’s sister had died.
She tried to be clinical as she scrolled, but the image of the beautiful young woman in the portrait behind her parents that morning rose unbidden.Lines of data blurred, but one detail leapt out and her world stopped.Her heart thundered.Ice slid through her veins.
One of the chemicals listed was hers.A compound she had once named Seraphim-9, a creation she had thought would heal, not harm.A compound she had created in her desperate search to cure her mother.In the quantities used it would have been deadly, and mixed with the others in her system, it meant Boonsri’s final moments had been agony.
The room tilted.Her knees gave way, and she crumpled to the floor.She couldn’t breathe, the world started to turn black at the edges.Violet’s chair scraped loudly, her voice sharp and panicked.“Klarissa!Klarissa, talk to me!”
But Klarissa couldn’t hear her anymore.Darkness closed in, crushing and absolute, her last coherent thought an arrow through her heart.She was the monster her mates had been hunting all along.
****
The afternoon had beencalm at Pride House, Kamon and Rune sitting with Kieran, Liam, and Josie while they went over patrol rotations and plans.The talk was steady, even light at times—Josie teasing the brothers for being overprotective, Liam rolling his eyes but smirking, Kieran offering quiet direction that grounded them all.For the first time in days, the room felt settled.
Then the call came.Kamon’s phone buzzed across the table.He hit speaker, and Violet’s voice cut sharp and urgent.“You two need to get back here.Now.Klarissa needs you.”
Kamon’s stomach turned to stone.“What happened?Is she hurt?Violet—”
“She’s fine physically,” Violet snapped, and Kamon could hear the strain under her words.“But she needs you.Both of you.Just get here as fast as you can.”
Kieran’s expression hardened instantly, his tone leaving no room for hesitation.“Move.Violet never sounds like that unless something’s bad.Very fucking bad.”
Liam nodded, his usual humor gone.“Go.Don’t waste a second.”
“Physically?”Rune repeated, already on his feet.“She’s okay physically?What the hell does that mean?”
