Page 49 of SINS & Riley

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I blink. Hard.

Did Dominic redecorate?

Then I see the book the kids had.

Sally Squirrel Builds a Bookshop.

I pick it up, flip through the pages, trace the cover with my thumb. Then I lift my head.

The room stares back at me.

Like the watercolors bled right off the page and Sally Squirrel moved in and went to work.

It’s surreal.

And not just because it’s an uncanny replica of the book, but because none of this existed yesterday.

I flip through the book again, spotting pieces of every page scattered across the room when?—

“Ahhh!”

Screams tear down the hall.

My pulse detonates. It’s the shrill, jagged, too high-pitched to belong to anyone but children sound that has me in instant panic mode.

I’m already halfway down the hall when another shriek rips through the air. My gut knows exactly where it’s coming from.

I stop cold, staring at two double doors with more warnings than a dark romance trigger list.

It’s the East Wing. The corridor no one should be down.

A crash explodes from down the hall, splintering the silence.

That’s when I notice the massive doors are cracked open, and Nips is lying on the floor.

Another cry tears through the air—Katya and Misha shrieking, “No!”

That’s all it takes. Adrenaline spikes, and I’m already past the threshold, barreling toward them.

Consequences—and every last one of my hot shifters—be damned.

I’m a breath from tearing through the first open door when a hand clamps hard around my arm and yanks me back.

“Don’t interrupt.”

I whip around, ready to snap the bastard’s wrist clean off—until I see him.

Dominic.

Two guards flank him like shadows, silent as they track every twitch.

Well, every twitch except Katya and Misha.

I wrench free, chest burning.

He shushes me.

Jesus—am I the only one still sane? “Your kids are in there. Screaming.” I jab toward the door.

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