Page 232 of Shifting Hearts 1
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. Shewas 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’sstill 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’sstill 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.”
