AgnesI was jolted awake by the sound of my bedroom door swinging open. Squinting against the early morning light, I saw a group of maids bustling into the room, their arms filled with piles of fabric, brushes, and all sorts of random beauty tools.“Good morning, Luna Agnes,” one of them chirped, se
“Hmm,” Rosa mused. “Not terrible, but not acceptable either. Back straight, eyes forward. Again.”I repeated the motion, focusing on her instructions.“Better. Now, let’s practice addressing a gentleman.”Elijah stepped forward. “Good morning, Agnes.”“Good morning, Elijah,” I said, trying to mainta
AgnesI wiped a bead of sweat from my forehead as the sun dipped lower in the sky, casting golden rays across the ballroom floor. We had been at this for hours, and still, the feather kept fluttering to the ground like a mocking little bird.“Again,” Rosa commanded sharply, tapping her foot impatien
“Impressive,” he commented as I executed a particularly tricky turn.“Don’t sound so surprised,” I replied lightly.“Not surprised, just... delighted.”My heart fluttered at his words, but I focused on the rhythm, allowing myself to be fully present in the moment. The fabric of his shirt brushed aga
AgnesThe next morning dawned bright and clear, and I found myself once again heading toward the parlor for another etiquette lesson with Rosa. Elijah was busy today, so he wouldn’t be attending. I was a bit relieved not to have to interact with him, but I did wonder what Rosa had in store for me.A
AgnesI stood outside Elijah’s office door the next morning, taking a deep breath before knocking lightly. The muffled sounds of conversation ceased, and his deep voice called out, “Come in.”Pushing the door open, I found him seated behind his massive mahogany desk, papers strewn about. He looked u
Was it possible… that Elijah was the man I had slept with all those years ago?The thought made my heart pound for reasons I wasn’t quite willing to admit. But I pushed those thoughts away, instead focusing on the present.Retracing my steps, I headed back toward the shopping center and made my way
AgnesI stared down at the book in my hands, feeling like my face was on fire. “I-I didn’t realize what it was,” I blurted out, desperately trying to cover up my embarrassment. “I-I must have grabbed it by mistake.”Elijah glanced over at me. To my surprise, there was a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “Agnes, it’s alright. Remember your Luna lesson: you don’t have to explain yourself.”I fiddled with the edge of the book’s glossy cover. My cheeks heated even more at the sight of the shirtless model on the front. “But I’m telling the truth. I don’t usually read... this sort of thing.”He shrugged, his eyes returning to the road ahead. The light turned green, and he accelerated, the city turning into a blur around us. “And so what if you did? There’s nothing wrong with that.”I shot him a sidelong glance, surprised. “You mean, you don’t mind?”“Why would I?” he asked, glancing at me in the rearview mirror. “It’s still a book just like any other. Who cares if it has... ero
AgnesElijah and I skidded around the corner to the living room and came screeching to a halt the moment we saw the horrific scene that was waiting for us.The dollhouse now lay in ruins, its roof cracked straight down the middle. And none other than Olivia stood above it, her fists still raised.My
The very thought made me wince and look away. I didn’t want to think that Elijah could be shallow enough to fall for something like that, but the fact of the matter was, she was his mate. They still bore the mating marks and nothing was tying him to me except for a contract.She could manipulate him
AgnesThe moment Elijah said those words, Thea darted behind my legs and gripped my skirt as if Olivia might whisk her away if she didn’t hold onto me. I didn’t know what to say or do, but feeling her body tense against me made my heart constrict painfully in my chest.Behind her, Olivia stood in th
A few murmurs rippled through the room, but no one spoke up.“Maybe someone just didn’t finish in time,” one of the designers suggested with a shrug.I nodded slowly, figuring that was probably the case. But something didn’t sit right with me about that, although I didn’t know why. Still, I let it g
AgnesThe afternoon sun slanted through the office window, casting long shadows across the wood as I sat at my desk with my pencil in hand. For the first time in the past few days, the sketchbook in front of me wasn’t empty. I’d managed to scrawl a few decent designs across the pages; they were roug
Truthfully, I wondered if I could tell Elijah the truth—that I thought Thea might be my missing daughter and that I was the one who sent the samples in. But I couldn’t get the words out. I was too afraid—afraid that if I told him the truth, he might become overprotective and accuse me of trying to t
Agnes & ElijahAgnesElijah’s breath was warm against my neck, the faint scent of whiskey and pine curling through the small, dark space between us. I could feel the rise and fall of his chest against my body, and I didn’t know what to make of it.To make matters worse, my own pulse was entirely unh
“Sketching?” Gertrude eventually asked, nodding toward the closed book on the table.“Trying to,” I admitted with a wry chuckle. “But it’s not going as well as I’d like.”The librarian hummed thoughtfully, glancing down at the pages scattered beside me. Her eyes caught on one of Ava’s sketches that
AgnesI stared down at the sketchbook in my lap, tapping the end of my pencil against the blank page until even the sounds of the soft thuds were starting to irritate me. No matter how long I sat there, no matter how hard I tried to force inspiration to come, nothing was coming to me.No designs, no