Page 9 of Fourth

Maya’s voice cracked. “That’s not possible.”

“It was relayed in her words. Directly.” His gaze never shifted. “Computer, play Anya, voice recording two.”

Her sister’s voice bled through the speakers.

Maya froze.

A cold jolt shot through her chest, locking her breath mid-inhale. Her pulse stuttered, then surged, her limbs gonebuoyant, like she’d been dropped from a great height. The voice wrapped around her ribs, familiar and brutal, and for a split second, she couldn’t move—couldn’tbreathe—because it wasAnya.

Alive. Speaking.

And giving her away.

“Berkeley, California. United States of America. She lives off-campus with three roommates. She usually walks to class—rain sends her to the bus stop on the corner near the café. She studies computer science and always has her headphones in, half-lost in whatever coding world she’s building. If anyone tries to stop her on the street, she probably wouldn’t even hear them. And... And she’s my twin, so she’ll look exactly like me.”

“Is that your sister?”

Maya shook her head, violently now, wild. “No. You took her. You twisted her. You tricked her into giving you the information—”

“Genetic scan confirmed the match. She is your twin. An intergalactic anomaly. And she voluntarily gave you to us. You are mine now.”

The words landed like a physical blow. Maya’s stomach twisted, bile rising as her body reacted before her mind caught up. Achill crept across her skin, crawling up her spine, leaving goosebumps in its wake.Mine.

The way he said it—calm, clinical, as though claiming ownership of her were as routine as checking a diagnostic—made her insides recoil. She was not his. She would never be his. But some primitive part of her heard the claim and shuddered all the same, her pulse stuttering beneath the surface as if her body didn’t know the difference between possession and danger.

Her breath caught in her throat. Asingle heartbeat missed. But she lifted her chin, forcing steel into her spine.

She drew a breath, sharp and uneven. “You want answers? You want data? Fine. Test me. Run your scans. Ask your questions. But don’t expect me to cower while you pretend you’re the one in charge here.”

He stepped closer.

She refused to flinch. Would not give him the satisfaction.

“I am in charge,” he said with finality, his voice low and unyielding, like the command of someone who had never been questioned and did not intend to startnow.

Maya scoffed, sharp and bitter. “Sure. You’re doing a stellar job of proving it.”

“You mistake stillness for indecision. Iam analyzing every possible outcome.”

“Right. And losing it is just a strategic option now?” She threw the words like a blade. Not just to wound, but to provoke. To strike something soft beneath all that armor and see if itbled.

The thought had her gaze flickering to his collarbone, to the blood she’d drawn and could still taste. Alien blood. Riv’En’s blood. She shuddered.

She should be horrified. Instead, her pulse kicked. Her skin buzzed. The taste lingered like lightning—wrong and electric and dangerously intoxicating. She didn’t want more of it, but she couldn’t forget it either. It was burned into her memory, down the back of her throat, crawling through her nerves.

And the worst part?

It wasn’t fear curling through her stomach.

It was want—sharp, visceral, and terrifying in its clarity. Awant that refused to fade, even as logic screamed that it should. Her breath hitched. She swallowed hard, forcing the sensation down, locking it away where it could not deceive her. But her body betrayed her anyway, mouth tight, fists tight, eyes locked on the place she’d bitten him, heart pounding like she was still in motion.

He hadn’t retaliated.

He hadn’t raged ather.

And that restraint unsettled her more than anger ever could.

“You are pushing boundaries you do not understand,” he finallysaid.

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