I wasn’t sure what to expect when arriving in Salem. Forced to marry a man I’ve never met, attend a private university I’d never heard of, and the whispers of a rumored secret society filling the halls. This life would be near unbearable with my insufferable fiancé if it wasn’t for his uncle, his best friend, and his enemy. When none of them are willing to let me go, it sends us down a path I’m not sure any of us will survive. The life I was promised is distorted behind smoke and mirrors. The truth cloaked by Deceit.

Tonight was meant to be about kink. Our lives are a nightmare of last-minute deployments and near misses, and we needed the break. Instead, we broke. The whole world broke. But as city after city is blown apart, and with a club full of civilians to protect, we have to pull it together and get them to safety. No matter how we’re feeling. No matter how many family members are disintegrating into ash. We have a job to do, so we’ll be each other’s strength.

I think I always knew I was going to die young. Like I had this… silent, invisible clock ticking down to my final moments plastered above my head. Maybe that’s why I was so reckless, crazy. Why I sought after adventure. Why nothing scared me… Except, there was always this… feeling I couldn’t shake that something was in the darkest parts of every corner, under every bed, closet, or room, like a ghost watching me. Waiting to take me. My own, personal reaper. But it was always only during a lightning storm that I could see the outline of my reaper. No scythe.

Welcome to the Lilydale Foundation Center... home of second chances. At least, that's what they tell us it is. It's basically a glorified prison and asylum for the deranged with good alibis. When the police pulled me out of my burning home, along with what was left of my Father, I was deemed broken — even if I was the reason the fire started. So, here I am at my new home. They think they can save us with their fancy facility. But what insane person decided it was a good idea to put a bunch of young, unhinged people together?

I thought I had everything I could possibly desire. Until I set my eyes on her. My angel. Too pure for this world, too pure for me. She’s all mine. No matter the cost. No matter the lives that stand in my way. She has always been mine. She just doesn’t know it yet.