Her Rebirth.

Lilac staggered back, hand flying to her bleeding lip. The sting of Amelia’s bite really hurt her, and of course, she felt a blazing fury, but when she saw Amelia’s face of defiance, her anger turned into thrill. Her breath came heavier, pupils dilated as she stared at Amelia like a wolf that had just been challenged by its prey.

Amelia’s chest heaved, chains clinking softly as she glared at her. "Come near me again, and I’ll rip your throat out."

But Lilac only laughed. It was low, breathy, and disturbingly amused.

"You always did know how to drive me insane," she murmured. "But it’s no use fighting me, Amelia. You’ll see that soon."

Lilac lunged forward, digging her left hand into Amelia’s hair and yanked it backwards. Amelia yelped and instinctively raised her hands toward Lilac’s, intending to pull it away, but once again, she couldn’t move as she was held down by the chains. Lilac yanked her by the hair again.

Then her lips crashed down against Amelia’s, more violent, more possessive than before. Amelia growled against her, trying to twist away, but Lilac held her firm, her mouth devouring, biting, sucking along her lower lip, tugging it between her teeth.

A thin moan escaped Amelia’s lips, though it was of pain, but it only made Lilac press harder. When she finally pulled back, a strand of saliva clung between them.

Lilac stared at her, with her lips red and swollen. "Only I deserve you, Amelia. You have to understand that." Her eyes darkened, filled with wildness and obsession in a way that made Amelia’s stomach churn. "I’ll make you understand that. Even if I have to break you to do it."

Amelia spat to the side, her saliva mingled with blood. "You’ll never have me," she hissed in a hoarse voice.

Lilac leaned in, brushing her thumb across Amelia’s bruised lips gently. "Then who do you say you belong to, my angel?" she questioned. "Kai?"

Lilac’s movements became rougher, her eyes dilating with desire.

"Or do you think..." she asked softly. "That he is going to come charging in and rescue you?" Then she laughed. Not mockingly but with genuine pity, as though Amelia were a child clinging to a broken toy. "You really think he’ll find you?" She let go of Amelia’s lips and crouched down in front of her, her voice dropping low and intimate. "You need to let that thought go."

"I made sure of it," she said, enunciating each word slowly, as if trying to carve them into Amelia’s soul. "Before I came here, I took care of everything. Everything that could link you to him—gone. Every tracker, every thread. I stripped you bare."

She reached forward and tugged at the hem of Amelia’s shirt.

"That’s not even your clothing anymore."

Amelia blinked. For the first time, she really looked at what she was wearing. It was a plain black top, loose on her frame, and cotton pants that weren’t hers.

Her heart skipped.

The clothes she’d worn to visit Lilac were gone. Her eyes flew to her fingers.

Her engagement ring was gone.

Then her phone...

Panic flooded her chest, and her heart thudded in fear.

Lilac saw it. She smiled wider, her lips parting as she leaned in.

"You feel that?" she whispered. "That sinking feeling in your stomach? That’s the truth settling in. He’s not coming. No one is. You’re mine now, Amelia. And the sooner you stop hoping, the easier it’ll be."

---

In an abandoned train depot, the wind howled through broken windows, carrying with it the distant clang of rusted metal. Moonlight spilled in through gaps in the roof, illuminating the silhouette of a lone man leaning against a derailed freight car, cigarette burning between his fingers.

Kai approached without hesitation, his coat billowing behind him. His expression was cold, but his eyes were filled with desperation.

"What the hell are you doing here, psycho?" the man drawled, flicking the ash from his cigarette.

Kai stopped a few feet away. "You’re still smoking that cheap shit?"

"You talk as if you ain’t a heavy smoker like me." The man grinned. He looked older and unkempt, like a homeless man. But he was far from that. He was popular in the underworld, known for his ability to get any information. His name was Kyle. "Been a while, Kai. Never thought you’d crawl back to me."

Kai didn’t have much time to waste on pleasantries, so he went straight to the crux of the matter. "I need you to find someone."

"Must be important. Someone you want dead?"

"No," he replied, and then added, "Her name is Amelia Cosgrove. She’s been taken. By a girl named Lilac. Last seen in District 9." He pulled out a picture and tossed it at Kyle. "That’s her. I need her location."

Kyle let out a low whistle, then pushed off the freight car and walked to a nearby crate. He pulled out a battered tablet and powered it up, fingers flying over the screen.

"It’s new that you are searching for someone just for the sake of finding them. I must say, that must be the privilege she gets for being your fiancée."

Of course he knew. He wasn’t popular in the underworld for nothing, after all.

Kai threw a cold glare at Kyle. "Focus on your damn job."

"Hey, don’t glare at me like that." He smirked, eyes still on the screen. "I’m pretty sure everyone is surprised just like me that you were able to fall in love despite being a damn psychopath."

"You wanna die, huh?"

The man tilted his head. "Still a bastard, huh? Alright." He tapped a few more times. "Pulled traffic cams, old utility logs, and some chatter from the darknet. Someone matching Amelia’s description was seen being carried by a woman near the outskirts of the city."

He turned the screen toward Kai. A grainy image showed a car entering a narrow mountain road. "Last signal ping was here. No surveillance past this point."

Kai’s eyes narrowed. "What’s there?"

"A forgotten rehab facility turned private estate. No official owner. The place is powered, but off-grid. Whoever’s there doesn’t want company."

He handed Kai a slip of paper with GPS coordinates. "Don’t know what she’s planning, but if Amelia’s in there... she won’t be easy to get out."

Kai took the paper. "She will be."