Novel-novel oleh Didi Adeyemi

HAYLEY’S P.O.VIt took me weeks to finally feel comfortable enough to leave the house without an army behind me.It was so easy to pretend to the public, to put on a smile and act like things were fine when in reality, they weren’t. The only people who saw the real me were my family. They saw every breakdown, every nervous wreck, every tear. A few years ago, I would have hated the idea of anyone seeing me weak but now, I was glad to have people I could lean on.It took months, but I was fine now. Marie was convicted of Charles’ murder as well as the other two and my kidnapping. She was never getting out of jail for the rest of her life and the thought made me giddy.“Stop watching the sentencing,” Kate chided, turning off the TV. “It’s over now.”I rolled my eyes at her. “It relaxes me.”She raised a brow. “A court case relaxes you?”“If I was allowed to go to work, I wouldn’t need to watch the sentencing,”She stared at me incredulously. “You’re ready to pop. There’s no way in hell th

HAYLEY’S P.O.VThere was a loud beeping sound somewhere at the back of my mind and it just wouldn’t go away.My head felt foggy and my body felt like it was weighed down by a fucking tractor, but against all odds, I managed to pull my eyes open.Voices overlapped as I tried to figure out where I was.The walls were white and there were machines next to me, I could see Jake and my father speaking to a woman in a white coat- a doctor. A small groan left my lips and all eyes turned to me.“Baby,” Jake’s voice cracked as he made his way over to me. His eyes were dull and hollow as he rushed to my side, his hand softly stroking my cheek. “How do you feel?”“Like I was run over,” I mumbled. “What happened?”“Marie took you.”I nodded slowly. “I remember that. I remember running in the forest.”“We were calling out to you. You slipped and rolled down a hill.”The memories came flooding back. My head was pounding as if someone had taken a sledgehammer to it but all I could feel was fear and w

HAYLEY’S P.O.VI watched Marie making her way over to me, a smoking gun in one hand and the other on her hip.She was dressed in black leggings and a loose shirt. She surprisingly looked good for someone who had just shot two men in cold blood.“Don’t look so terrified. You’ve witnessed a murder too, haven’t you?”I swallowed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”She snorted. “Please, I’ve been alive far longer than you have. I know all about the boy that was thirsting after you and his body that was found.”“Again, I don’t know what-”She aimed the gun right at my face. “Lie to me again, I dare you.”I didn’t dare speak, I just stared straight at her and forced my expression to neutral. She was crazy, far crazier than Jake had led me to imagine. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was a recent development or if she had always been this insane.“I thought so,” she mumbled before lowering the gun. “Do you know what this is?”When I said nothing, she made her way over to me and grab

HAYLEY’S P.O.VWe spent three magnificent days in Paris without any disturbance from anyone.It was just us, going out, fucking until the sun rose and eating good food. It was the best time I had in a long time but as always, every good thing must come to an end.I lay across Jake’s chest asleep when my phone rang loud. I mumbled a small curse under my breath, reaching out to silence the call. I hoped that whoever it was would take the hint and stop calling but my phone rang again.“Do you want me to answer it?” Jake asked but I shook my head, grabbing the phone blindly and picking up.“Hello?”“Where’s Jake?” my father’s panicked voice filled my ears.“He’s right here. Why didn’t you call him?”“I did, the bastard probably has his phone on do not disturb. I need to talk to him.”I handed the phone to Jake, trying to figure out what it could be that would make dad worry this much. “It’s dad.”Jake was up in a second, the sleep gone from his eyes as he took the phone from me. I couldn’

HAYLEY’S P.O.VA hand brushed my hair over my shoulder and warm lips placed open mouthed kisses on my throat and collar bone.I mumbled something incoherent and nestled closer to the warmth. I was too comfortable to move or open my eyes. I just wanted to enjoy the extra soft sheets underneath me and the warm hands on my skin.“As much as I want to get in bed with you, baby girl, you need to eat,” Jake whispered, his hand trailing down my side. “You’ve been asleep for too long.”“How long?”“Hours.”I forced my eyes open and found him seated behind me. He smiled softly at me and pulled back. I missed his warmth instantly, missed the feel of him next to me. He was dressed already, in a plain t-shirt and sweats.A quick glance at the window told me just how late it was.I couldn’t remember much from before I fell asleep. I remembered getting out of the shower and Jake settling between my thighs. I remembered him eating my cunt until I sobbed for reprieve and I remembered him fucking me f

HAYLEY’S P.O.VMy skin buzzed with excitement as we walked into our hotel room.I still couldn’t believe that he had done this. It was one thing to plan a vacation and it was another to plan it without me knowing and get me to the airport all while I had no idea what was going on.The hotel room was beautiful. It had its own living room and the room was so large that I took a double take. Jake stood behind me, one hand on my hip as I took in the room. I could almost feel his smile against my hair.“You’re quiet, I’m going to assume that you’re impressed,” he drawled, his voice dripping with amusement.“This is amazing,” I breathed turning to him. “How long are we here?”“The plan is one week, but we can stay longer if you want.”I was so overwhelmed that I couldn’t help but lean on my toes and kiss him. “Thank you.”I kissed him again and this time, he pulled me close, one hand tangling in my hair to kiss me deeper. I felt the kiss all the way to my toes as my head emptied of all thou

CHARLOTTE’S P.O.V Adamaris and the council were able to break the bond between me and Esmeralda before finally executing her and destroying the talisman. We held Samantha’s burial the next day. It felt wrong to hold it until after Esmeralda was dead. It was so difficult for me to stand next to her body and act like it wasn’t my fault she was dead. Logan assured me no one felt that way, but I felt that way. What made it a lot harder was having to explain to Amelia that her mum was going away. She wasn’t even two yet, she didn’t understand the concept of death, and she just stayed in my arms and kept on screaming the word ‘mummy’ over and over again. Logan tried to take her away from me but she refused to let anyone else hold her. Amelia’s things were moved into our house the day after the funeral. She was a frolicky baby with a terrible sleep schedule. I attributed that to the fact that she missed her mum. Considering each time she woke up, she would ask for her mother. A lot of pe

THIRD PERSON’S P.O.VCharlotte was mingling with the guests with a smile on her face. She had the part of being Luna down to a pat, she was sweet, respectful and paid attention to every little detail.Logan stayed behind her to give her space to talk to the people, but also close enough that he always had her in his sight. He was on edge and for good reason too; they hadn’t heard from the witch in a few days and that probably meant she was waiting for a good time to strike.A little girl walked up to Charlotte and softly tugged at the hem of her hoodie. Charlotte turned her attention to the girl with a smile on her face. She crouched down so she was at eye level with her.“Can I help you?” she asked and the girl nodded. “I was wondering how it feels to be pregnant.” Charlotte was taken aback by the question.“I don’t know; I’ll let you know when I am pregnant.”She started to rise but the girl held onto her arm with a grip that seemed too strong for a girl who looked no older

The next twenty four hours after Adamaris got rid of the brand were entirely uneventful. I guess that should have been my clue that it was the calm before the storm.The day actually started out like any normal day. I woke up with Logan bringing me breakfast in bed, then I lay back while he ran his fingers in circles on my baby bump. I looked up at him and he gave me a small smile but his fingers never slowed.“Are we going to stay here all day?” I asked and he raised a brow. “Shouldn’t you be happy that you have a day off from all the drama?”“I am happy,” I admitted, “I was just curious as to why we haven’t moved yet.” “We don’t have anywhere to go for now,” he explained, “Do you remember the changes you approved for the school music department?” I nodded, “Well they’ve been implemented and today is the grand unveiling.”“I totally forgot about that.” “I told them to go ahead with it while you were,” he trailed off, “While you were gone.”He seemed to close off

CHARLOTTE’S P.O.VWe all sat in silence while Greg sketched. Logan made tea for me while we waited. Adamaris muttered something about how chivalry is dead since Logan didn’t make one for her too. This led Logan to mutter about how witches should get their own mates to do things for them.They kept on trading back and forth quips between themselves until Greg muttered something about how he was close to stabbing his ears with his pencil. I giggled and they both shot me looks as if I had betrayed them.A little over half an hour later, Greg was done with the sketch and when I saw it, I was taken aback by how life like it looked. He got every single feature of her perfectly, from the slight crookedness of her nose to the fullness of her lips and even down to the meanness of her smirk.After staring at it for a while, I passed it on to Adamaris. She took one look at it and cursed.“Do you know her?” I asked and she nodded. “She used to be in my coven,” she said slowly as she fold

CHARLOTTE’S P.O.VI woke up to Adamaris sitting on a chair cross legged and looking bored out of her mind. She had cleared up the circle of salt and moved Kaden and Aubrey to a more comfortable lying position.Logan and Evan were still knocked out on the floor in the same position and I stifled a smile. Leave it to Adamaris to let the men suffer. Aubrey and Kaden began to stir; Kaden stirred first and as if she heard him, Aubrey moved too.Aubrey sat up first and cradled her head in her hands for a few seconds. It wasn’t until she heard Kaden’s whimper that her head snapped up and she rushed to him.He buried his face into her chest while she whispered a few words in his ears, too low for even my werewolf hearing to pick up on. Kaden just nodded and gave his mum a smile.Kaden looked up and saw me and he gave me a small smile. “Hey Charlie, I’m sorry I fell asleep.” I felt my lips curl up at the sides. He turned to Adamaris and gave her a confused look, “Hello, who are you?”“That’s n

CHARLOTTE’S P.O.VIt was Logan who snapped out of his reverie and realized that we still needed to find Adamaris a place to sleep. Thankfully, she has her house (I still don’t understand what the hell she means by that). She said that all she needs is a large expanse of land, preferably in the woods.Logan wanted me to stay home but I’m not going to let him go alone, especially since everyone is in this mess because of me. Reluctantly, he handed me one of his big, warm hoodies and I pulled it over my head.I sat in front with Logan while Adamaris and Celeste sat at the back. The drive was tense and quiet; Logan had one hand on my leg to keep me grounded because my thoughts were going haywire.Adamaris was lost in thought, her eyes were kept fixed on the window. Celeste was staring at me, not in a creepy way, but in a way that kept me alert. Occasionally, her eyes would move from my face to Logan’s hand on my thigh and back.I caught her eye through the mirror and she gave me a smile t