Sarafina Ainsley died on her twenty-fifth birthday.
The problem is… she woke up again.
Now her blood burns with something unnatural, her senses are sharper than they should be, and the city she once called home suddenly feels different—like it’s watching her.
Valerie’s City hides more than ordinary secrets. Vampires rule from the shadows, hunters lurk in silence, and ancient bloodlines control a world Sarafina never knew existed.
But somehow… she is at the center of it.
Someone knows what she is.
Someone has been waiting for her return.
And someone clearly failed to kill her the first time.
Two men stand dangerously close to the truth.
Alistair Draven—a powerful hybrid whose presence awakens something wild inside her.
Cassian Crowley—her best friend, who seems far too prepared for the chaos unfolding around them.
As buried secrets begin to surface, Sarafina realizes her death was never an accident.
It was the beginning.
And whatever she has become… the supernatural world is already coming for her.

For the first time in what feels like forever… I wake up without fear.


No shadows clawing at the edges of my mind. No lingering sense that something is hunting me. No weight pressing against my chest like the world is waiting for me to break it.


Everything was just… quiet. Soft, golden light spills through the window, warming the room in a way that feels almost unreal. For a moment, I just lie there, staring at the ceiling, letting myself feel it.


It felt unfamiliar, something I haven't felt in a long time. And maybe that's why it feels dangerous, like it was calm before the storm.


The town is already awake when I step outside. People move through the streets with an ease that feels almost choreographed. Conversations flow softly, laughter drifts through the air, and everywhere I look—People are watching me. Not openly or rudely.


Chapter 77 - The Stillness Between Souls