The word stayed with me.
**Grandmother.**
I stared through the windshield at Evelyn.
“My grandmother is alive?”
Evelyn smiled.
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
“Closer than you think.”
Damien immediately looked at me.
“Don’t listen to her.”
Evelyn laughed.
“Still protecting her?”
“Always.”
Something flickered in Evelyn’s eyes.
Jealousy.
Then anger.
“Get out of the car, Amara.”
“No.”
She raised the photograph.
“Then your sister comes with me.”
Nadia’s fingers tightened around mine.
I looked at her.
Then at Damien.
He gave me a small shake of his head.
Don’t.
But I had spent my entire life losing people because someone else decided what was best for me.
Not anymore.
I opened the door.
“Amara!”
Damien grabbed my wrist.
I looked at him.
“I’ll be fine.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No.”
I gently pulled my hand away.
“But neither did my mother.”
I stepped out.
Evelyn smiled.
“Smart girl.”
I walked toward her.
“Where is my grandmother?”
“You’ll meet her.”
“Now.”
Evelyn tilted her head.
“You’ve inherited your mother’s impatience.”
“And you’ve inherited nothing from her.”
Her smile disappeared.
Good.
I had finally found something that could hurt her.
A car arrived behind Evelyn.
Two men opened the doors.
“Get in.”
I didn’t move.
“You said you’d take me to my grandmother.”
“I will.”
“What about Nadia?”
“She comes too.”
I looked back.
Damien had stepped out of the car.
His gun was in his hand.
“You’re not taking either of them.”
Evelyn sighed.
“You really are exhausting.”
Damien aimed his weapon.
“Let them go.”
Evelyn smiled.
“You don’t understand, Damien.”
She pointed at me.
“She isn’t your weakness.”
Her eyes darkened.
“She’s your destiny.”
Damien’s expression hardened.
“I don’t believe in destiny.”
“You will.”
She turned to her men.
“Take them.”
Everything happened at once.
Damien fired.
Adrian pulled Nadia behind the car.
I ducked.
Evelyn disappeared.
Men rushed toward us.
Damien grabbed my hand.
“RUN!”
We sprinted toward the trees.
Bullets tore through the air behind us.
Adrian and Nadia followed.
We didn’t stop until the sounds of gunfire disappeared.
We found an abandoned cottage deep in the woods.
Adrian locked the door.
Nadia collapsed onto a chair.
I leaned against the wall, trying to catch my breath.
Damien stood in front of me.
“You could have been killed.”
“I know.”
“You shouldn’t have gotten out of the car.”
“I know.”
“You never listen.”
“I know.”
He stared at me.
Then he laughed softly.
“You’re impossible.”
I smiled.
“So are you.”
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then Damien reached toward my face.
His fingers gently touched my cheek.
“You scared me.”
“I was scared too.”
“You didn’t look it.”
“I didn’t want Evelyn to know.”
He smiled.
“You’re stronger than you realize.”
I looked into his eyes.
“Damien…”
“Yes?”
“Do you still love me?”
His expression softened.
“More than I should.”
I stepped closer.
“Even after everything?”
“Especially after everything.”
He leaned toward me.
Our lips were almost touching when—
“Can you two please stop?”
Nadia.
We jumped apart.
She looked at us with an exhausted expression.
“We’re being hunted, remember?”
I laughed.
Damien shook his head.
“Your sister has terrible timing.”
“She’s right.”
Nadia stood.
“There is something you both need to see.”
She pulled a small envelope from her pocket.
I frowned.
“Where did you get that?”
“Evelyn gave it to me.”
My smile disappeared.
“What?”
“She slipped it into my pocket before I escaped.”
I opened it.
Inside was a single piece of paper.
My name was written on it.
**AMARA.**
Underneath:
**If you want to know why your mother died, go to St.
Catherine’s alone.**
I turned the paper over.
There was another message.
**Bring the necklace.**
Damien took it from my hand.
“No.”
I looked at him.
“No?”
“You’re not going alone.”
The paper suddenly began to burn.
We dropped it.
It turned to ash on the floor.
Then Nadia screamed.
I looked at her.
“What?”
She was staring at the window.
Someone had written on the glass.
Not with paint.
With blood.
Three words.
**SHE’S WATCHING YOU.**
Adrian rushed toward the window.
Nobody was outside.
Then the lights went out.
Nadia grabbed my arm.
“Amara…”
A woman’s voice whispered from somewhere inside the cottage.
“Don’t be afraid.”
We froze.
The voice continued.
“I’ve waited twenty-four years to meet you.”
My heart stopped.
Damien pulled his gun.
“Show yourself.”
A shadow appeared at the end of the hallway.
An elderly woman slowly stepped into the moonlight.
Silver hair.
Elegant black dress.
A familiar pair of dark eyes.
My eyes.
She looked at me.
And smiled.
“Hello, my granddaughter.”
I couldn’t move.
“Who are you?”
She smiled sadly.
“My name is **Isabella Bell**.”
Adrian’s face went completely white.
“Mother…”
I turned toward him.
“That’s my grandmother?”
He nodded.
Isabella looked at him.
“You failed to keep her hidden.”
Adrian lowered his head.
“I tried.”
“You were never very good at following orders.”
Then she looked at me again.
“You’ve grown into your mother’s face.”
My voice trembled.
“Why did you abandon her?”
Isabella’s expression changed.
“I didn’t.”
“Then why did she die?”
“Because she discovered the truth.”
“What truth?”
Isabella stepped closer.
“The Crimson Circle isn’t the greatest danger facing this family.”
I frowned.
“Then what is?”
She looked at Damien.
Then Adrian.
Then me.
“The Circle was created to protect humanity from something much older.”
A cold feeling spread through me.
“From what?”
Isabella’s eyes darkened.
“From the **Blood Court**.”
Damien lowered his weapon slightly.
“What is the Blood Court?”
Isabella looked toward the window.
“The reason your mother had to hide you.”
I swallowed.
“What do they want?”
Isabella looked directly into my eyes.
“You.”
Silence.
“Why me?”
“Because you carry something neither Evelyn nor the Circle possesses.”
“What?”
Isabella reached toward my necklace.
“The first blood.”
The black stone suddenly glowed.
Bright.
Powerful.
The entire cottage shook.
Damien grabbed my hand.
“What’s happening?”
Isabella smiled.
“The prophecy has awakened.”
I looked at her.
“What prophecy?”
Her smile disappeared.
“The one your mother died trying to stop.”
She leaned closer.
“And the first person the Blood Court will come for…”
Her eyes moved to Damien.
“…is the man you love.”
The cottage windows shattered simultaneously.
A deafening roar filled the night.
And somewhere beyond the trees—
hundreds of footsteps began approaching.
Isabella whispered:
“They’re here.”