Chapter 3 Chapter 3

MIRA

It had been three weeks since I buried her.

The scent of damp soil still clung to my memories. The way her hand went slack in mine. The stillness. The finality. I hadn’t even screamed when it happened. I just folded.

Now I moved like a ghost through the halls of the mansion I once called home. Waking, walking, working—all muscle memory. My body scrubbed floors, dusted corners, arranged flowers like it wasn’t rotting from the inside. I wore the black uniform of a maid again, just like before. Just like Mom.

But nothing was like before.

Not when the triplets passed me in the corridors and every cell in my body tensed like prey. Not when their voices curled around corners like smoke. They didn’t remember what they’d done—what they were. But my body did. My soul did.

At school, it was worse.

They sat across the quad like they hadn’t once pinned me down under the red moon. Like they hadn’t hunted me for sport. Like I hadn’t died with their names stuck in my throat.

Zane. Luca. Jax.

Three versions of the same nightmare. Beautiful, perfect, untouchable.

I slipped through campus like fog. Ate alone. Walked different routes. Sat at the back of the lecture hall. I didn’t speak unless I had to. I didn’t breathe unless no one was looking. Still, I could feel them watching.

Every. Single. Time.

Zane, the flirt, barely blinked around girls, but when I passed, he fell silent. Luca, the calm one, the leader, tracked me like something about me disturbed his perfect world. And Jax—he didn’t look at me at all.

Until today.

“Mira?”

I flinched so hard my textbook slipped from my arm. Jax stood there in the open doorway of the lab, tall and quiet, eyes like rain.

I didn’t answer. Just crouched to pick up the book, not looking up. Not breathing.

He moved closer. Too close. I heard the rustle of his clothes, felt the heat of his presence.

“I was… sorry to hear about your mother,” he said.

The words struck like a match. I straightened, spine tight as I glared at him. “Don’t.”

His brows drew together. “I just—”

“You didn’t know her.” My voice was steady, flat even through the fear that clenched my gut. “Don’t pretend you care.”

Something passed across his face. A flicker of guilt. Or confusion. Or maybe just his pride bruising.

“I wasn’t pretending.”

I turned away, heart thudding hard.

He hesitated before saying in a softer tone. “You avoid us like we did something.”

My jaw clenched.

“You did,” I whispered.

He blinked.

I didn’t wait for him to respond. I walked out of the room, down the hallway, and didn’t stop until I reached the girl’s restroom, locking myself in a stall.

Breathe.

Just breathe.

They didn’t remember. That’s what Mom had said. But the pieces—gods, the pieces of them were still the same. Luca still walked with that quiet authority. Zane still had too many girls in his orbit. And Jax… still made me feel like I was breaking open, just by standing near me.

Later that day, I found Sofia sitting outside the campus café, scrolling her phone with her feet kicked up on a chair.

She looked up when I approached. “Hey, dark cloud.”

I snorted. “Wow. Thanks.”

“You need it. You’ve been walking around like a ghost bride.”

I dropped into the seat across from her. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not,” she said, pulling out a croissant and handing it over. “Eat something. Your cheekbones could slice air.”

I took the pastry, chewing slowly. She was the only one I talked to. The only one who felt normal in this upside-down life. I didn’t know what she saw in me—maybe she liked projects. Or maybe she just recognized her own shadows in mine.

She leaned closer. “Listen… about your mom…”

My throat closed.

“I didn’t know her,” she added quickly, “but… when my brother died, I used to dream about him. Like, all the time. Like he was trying to say something. It fucked with my head. Still does.”

I blinked. The croissant sat heavy in my hand.

“You ever get that?” she asked, leaning closer. “Like dreams that feel more real than breathing?”

I couldn’t speak.

Because I had.

Every night.

But they weren’t just about my mom. They were about them.

I saw flashes of the forest. Running. Screaming. Laughter and blood and fangs. I heard Zane calling my name like a song. I felt Luca’s hand brushing leaves from my hair. I remembered Jax’s lips brushing my wrist, just before he bit me.

I didn’t tell Sofia any of that.

Instead, I said as I waved the croissant, “Thanks. For this.”

She smiled. “You ever need to crash at my place, say the word. My roommate’s always at her boyfriend’s, so I basically have the place to myself.”

The idea of sleeping in a house without shadows crawling the walls… it was tempting.

But I shook my head. “I’ll be okay.”

I wasn’t sure if that was a lie.

That night, back at the mansion, I took the long route to my room in the servant’s wing, dodging the triplets the way I always did. But this time… I wasn’t fast enough.

I turned the corner and almost ran straight into Zane. He caught my arms quickly, steadying me before I could fall. His hands felt firm but careful, like it was automatic for him to keep me upright.

“Hey—Shit, sorry,” he said, stepping back just enough to give me space but not letting go.

I looked down at his hands, the way his thumbs pressed gently against my skin. It should’ve been comforting, but it made me jerk my hand away like it burned.

“Mira,” he said quietly, brows knitting together, like he wasn’t sure why I reacted that way.

My breath hitched.

“I don’t remember ever hurting you,” he said low, “but you look at us like we killed you.”

I froze, the words hitting harder than I expected. Because they had. They all had. But not in this life.

“I don’t want to talk,” I said, my voice shaking. I scanned the hallway, looking for a way out.

Zane didn’t move. Instead, he reached out slowly, brushing a loose strand of hair behind my ear with gentle fingers. The touch made my breath catch.

He noticed. His eyes flicked down to my lips like it was instinct, like something pulled him there without thinking.

I didn’t wait. I shoved past him and didn’t stop running until I slammed my door behind me. I slid down against it, my chest heaving.

Why did my body still betray me like that? Why did I crave a touch I knew I should hate?

I curled up in bed and pressed a pillow to my face, muffling the sob that wouldn’t stop.

Sleep came late and brought the dream with it.

Laughter, mud, running feet. Zane grinning with a stick in his hand, that mischievous look he always had when he wanted to cause trouble.

“I got her!”

“No fair! You said ten seconds!” I shouted, breathless, turning to run. Jax tackled me from behind and we fell into the grass, tumbling and laughing.

Luca hovered above us, panting and grinning. “We win.”

Their faces shifted between boys and men, and my heart ached with a mix of joy and pain.

Then the sky turned red.

Their eyes glowed gold.

My breath caught and I scrambled to my feet, screaming.

But this time it was Zane.

His claws sank in, his teeth tearing.

I begged them to stop.

They didn’t.

And they smiled the whole time.

I woke up with a gasp, sweat soaking the sheets and nails digging into my palms. I stared at the ceiling, I realized I couldn’t keep living like this.

But I didn’t have a choice.