Chapter 1 - TWO HEARTBEATS
“The first one who touches her dies.”
William Norman said it so quietly that everyone in the examination room went still.
The doctor had just found a second heartbeat.
Bella lay on the table with cold gel on her stomach, staring at the screen. She had come in because she couldn’t keep breakfast down. Now the doctor was saying twins, and William was standing between her and a woman who had appeared out of thin air.
Lilith.
Bella knew the name. William had told her enough to make her think he was either cursed or badly in need of sleep. Now Lilith’s red eyes were fixed on the ultrasound.
“William,” she said, “you need to get them out of this building.”
The lights flickered. Somewhere down the hall, a nurse screamed.
William grabbed Bella’s hand. “Can you walk?”
“What’s happening?”
“A man is coming for the babies.”
Bella pulled her hand free long enough to snatch the ultrasound printout. “Then we’d better move.”
They reached the stairwell as every door in the hallway slammed at once. William shoved one open and hurried Bella down the steps. Lilith followed, barefoot and furious, muttering words Bella couldn’t understand.
On the third-floor landing, a man in a gray suit blocked their way.
He looked at William. Then at Bella’s stomach.
“Two,” he said, almost pleased. “That makes the debt interesting.”
William stepped forward. Lilith caught his arm.
“Don’t,” she warned. “He wants you to strike first.”
The man smiled at Bella. “Your name is in the contract now.”
Bella’s fear turned sharp. “I never signed anything.”
May you like
“No,” he said. “Your children did.”
The stairwell lights went black.
