The Grays don't raise their children. They sharpen them.

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Elliot Gray has survived his family by becoming invisible—the youngest son, the disappointment, the one whose secrets could destroy him. At least he has friends to keep the dark at bay. At least he has Ethan—the best friend he's spent a decade pretending not to love, proof that Elliot might be more than his inescapable last name.

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After all, his grandfather built Orchard Grove—a gated Southern California enclave where the wealthy have always known the price of forever. But when Helen Vaughn comes knocking, a stranger who should have been turned away at the gates, no one questions her. They've been waiting.

 

Helen isn't here for the town. She's here for Elliot.​ For his blood—blood that traces back to Orchard Grove's accursed past, and for what's waking up inside him. Something coiled and sly and whispering in a voice almost like his own. Almost.

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When people who question Helen start disappearing, Elliot and Ethan go digging. What they uncover tears down every wall. Surrendering to each other—finally—hands Helen the one weapon that matters, because what she wants is Elliot heeled, willing, and compliant. 

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And the thing inside him? It wants something else entirely. Acceptance.