The rebellion had been brewing for months in whispers and shadows. We called ourselves the Unnamed—those who’d been erased from the census rolls, pushed beyond the city walls, forgotten by history even as we still drew breath.

I’d tracked Commander Veylin for three days through the burnt districts. He was alone, separated from his patrol during our ambush at the grain depot. Now we faced each othe...

The Vanishing always happens at midnight.

Everyone knows this. It’s taught in schools alongside multiplication tables and state capitals. If you are Taken, your family has until sunrise to find you. After that, you’re gone forever. No body. No trace. Just… gone.

I used to think it wouldn’t happen to me. Statistically, the odds were in my favor—only one in every few thousand people gets Taken in th...

They said it would be magical,

the summer carnival rolling into town—

cotton candy clouds and laughter spinning

on the Ferris wheel against the sunset.

You were innocent then,

twelve years old with coins clutched tight,

eyes wide at the painted signs promising

Wonder! Thrills! Step Right Up!

It’s all fun and games, your mother said,

handing you a twenty-dollar bill,

kissing your forehead like a bl...

The rehearsal studio smelled of rosin and sweat. Maya pressed her palms against the barre, feeling the familiar grain of wood worn smooth by thousands of hands before hers. In the mirror, her reflection stared back—hair scraped into a tight bun, shoulders squared, face set in concentration that bordered on obsession.

“Again,” Madame Volkova said, her accent still thick after thirty years in Americ...