With the sound of children’s laughter and the rhythmic thud of little feet bouncing around her, Lucy couldn’t resist the siren call of the colorful inflatable fortress. The party was in full swing, a cacophony of balloons popping and sugared-up…

The house was quiet. Too quiet. Maddie lay on her back in the center of her massive bed, arms above her head, golden hair spilling like liquid sunlight across the silk pillows. A light summer breeze whispered through the open…

The next morning, the house was humming. It wasn’t noise exactly—it was energy. A low, smoldering frequency that pulsed through the walls, through the marble floors, through the air like heat rising off pavement. Everyone felt it. But only Maddie controlled it. She…

The morning after Cole, Maddie didn’t wake up in his bed. She didn’t need to. She let herself out while he slept, warm and tangled in the sheets, his breath still heavy from what they’d done. His scent clung to her. The…

Maddie barely slept. After Lucien left her curled in the furs of the greenhouse, after his final kiss and promise—“No one has to know. Unless you want them to.”—she’d stayed behind a while. Let the candles burn low. Let the…