Twin Sacrifice

a house. It was a monument

d been trimmed perfectly. The mansion rose before us, all sharp angles and gleaming windows. Marble columns. A

like a n

d out on my own. The air smelled like roses and fresh-cut grass. A far cry from the dying garden ou

ainst the marble steps. She did not look back to

a black uniform stood in the doorway. Her hair was pulled b

" the woman said

his is Seraphina. She will be stay

nodded and gestured for me to follow.I did not move. "Where's

ng. The doctors have already been contacted. Elara is being transferred to a pri

nt pr

get it.

y head throbbed. And Elara's warning echoed in my mind like a broken record. They're not your f

ind of beautiful that felt like a slap in the face. Marble floors so polished I could see my reflection in them. Chandeliers that probably

e at the top of the stairs. One near a door that looked like it led to a study. They were small, ba

arlow said. She stopped in fron

over the ocean. A bathroom with a tub I could swim in. A walk-in closet. But there were no photogra

hen she visits," Mrs. Harlow sa

es Vivien

ing home tomorrow to meet you." The way she said it made

d behind her with a soft click. I stood in the middle of the room and listened. The house was quiet. Too

hed against the shore. It should have been beautiful. It should have been peaceful. But

one. No signal. I

against my skin. Everything felt wrong. I was a stranger in a strange house, w

not

e I knew I needed to keep my strength. Then I showered and dressed in the clothes that had been left in the closet. Th

choed through the house. One of them was Elean

op of the stairca

s mine. Her face was the same shape. Her eyes were the same color. But everything else was

nt, we just stared at each other. The mi

. Her voice was light. Almost p

opped a few inches from me. Up close, I could see the differences. The p

inued. "You should be. You're nothing but

had been called worse. I had been called nothing my whol

ment for?" I asked.

Just for a moment. Then it w

is going to be fun." She turned and walked down the stairs, leav

le that could seat twenty, but only four of us sat at it. Eleanor at th

isite. I could no

ial season. About the charities she was involved with. About how i

ivienne's face, but you don't have her presence. Her

fork. "Fix w

lk. The way you hold yourself. You need to become Vivienne. O

me Elara had whispered in the hospital. Th

orres have to do

he had worn in the hospital. "Everything, da

not just dropped a bomb in the middle of the table.Vivienne watched me over the rim of her wine glass. Her

eaned against it, my heart racing. I was not being welcomed home. I was bei

s? What did they want? And why

swers. But I was

ing. I kept my head down and moved quickly. I did not know where I was going. I just knew I needed to hear something,Anyt

ks exactly like Vivienne. The Valtor

The Valtorres. Again. Who were t

It was a cold,

. The contract will be fulfilled. The alliance will be s

acked away from the door, my hands trembling. I needed to get o

g at the end of the hallway, watching me. Her a

he asked softly. "That's

walked toward me, her heels clicking against the marble floor. Sh

"I'll tell you one thing. They're not men. They're mo

en from her. It was not kind. It was not cruel.

way, leaving me alone in the dark hallway with my heart pounding and my