Page 59 of Blood Code

It was heaven. He was my heaven. And if this was what death felt like, then I wanted to die over and over and over again.

Warmth filled my insides, and Severin roared, his orgasm dancing with mine. It was everything. He was everything.

He slowed, breathing hard, and rested his head in the crook of my neck.

And it turned out, even after all that sex, I was, in fact, not pregnant. I started the shot with my very next cycle.

Chapter Sixteen

Xeniya Morozova

Age 35

Present

One week left to find the girl.

Itook a large sip of wine.

Was I becoming a little bit of an alcoholic?

Maybe.

But I was coming apart at the seams.

I’d thought I was so fucking strong, a delusion I’d built over time. Ten years of therapy, acting lessons, and two master’s degrees had all helped me believe it.

And I’d hunted down over a hundred men.

Revenge was nothing new to me.

So why was I breaking?

Hadn’t I processed all the trauma? Wasn’t I fine?

But perhaps fine would never be achievable.

One of my graduate psychology professors once told our class, “The goal in life is to make the best moments leave-able and the worst moments livable.”

The quote stuck with me.

I’d asked him, “Why leave-able?”

And he’d replied, “Because time moves on and you can’t freeze it. Trying to hold on to those moments will only hurt you. Remember the past, cherish the past, but you must look forward and live in the present.”

But my worst moments hadn’t been livable.

I’d died.

Yet I’d been given life again… or whatever this was.

Whether that meant becoming a vengeful spirit tearing down men’s castles or finding true joy again.

I didn’t know.

But I would live my best life, and for me, that meant rescuing the Forgotten—the lost girls who were just like me.

And perhaps I’d gotten a little sidetracked from that goal.