"One way or another, I will have what I desire..."

She shuddered at the memory, her arms tightening instinctively around her newborn sons as if to shield them from the malevolent force that seemed to lurk in every shadow. Sleep eluded her, her eyes remaining fixed on the heavy oak door, waiting with bated breath for the moment when Olivia would make good on her threat.

The few guards assigned to her chamber provided little comfort, their expressions impassive and cold, their loyalties clearly lying elsewhere. Elena felt utterly alone, adrift in a sea of uncertainty and despair, with only her children as her anchors to sanity.

It was during...