COLEI gazed down at the golden crest resting on the center of my desk. The embossment gleamed in the candlelight, its rich hue standing out from the ivory countertop and I felt my lips settle into a frown of discontent.I had recognized the crest immediately when I first spotted it at the House of Crawford. It was unmistakable- an image of a griffin spreading its wings, talons clamped around a rose.As I stared down at it, discontent turned to frustration.This crest had belonged to my brother Jack’s soldiers.And it had been found on two attackers who attempted to kill me the night we arrived at Lord Crawford’s.None of it made any sense at all. I had been invited to Crawford’s wedding personally, only to be met with attempted violence and a mystery I had yet to solve.A year had passed since the war ended, but the memories haunted me almost every night. My dreams were all nightmares now, each more vivid and brutal than the next. No matter how much soothing tea I forced down, no mat
COLEI frowned deeply as I took in the sight of the head servant before me. I had never seen Mr. Barrett look so horrified. He was known for his statue-like composure, so to see his eyes so wide and his chest heaving with heavy breaths, I knew something was wrong.“I-I’m sorry, Your Majesty,” he apologized as I rose to my feet. Alarm painted his expression, and his mouth trembled. “I-I didn’t mean to burst in unannounced.”“What happened?” I demanded, not out of anger but concern. Flynn stood too, flanking me with a hand on the sword he wore at his side. I glanced beyond him, but there was no one else there but Skyla Fox. “Where’s Aiden?”My King’s Guard should have stopped the servant and the lady before they reached my office, as was his duty.Why was he absent from his post?“M-Mr. Moran h-has gone ahead,” Mr. Barrett stammered as he pointed vaguely to the hallway. “T-there has been an accident in the garden, Your Majesty.”The head servant tried to maintain his composure, but it w
EVELYNI felt myself sinking rapidly.Darkness crept toward me, its tendrils of shadows reaching for me eagerly.At first, I could hear Skyla screaming, her shrill voice growing thinner by the second, but the sound of her cries quickly faded. Soon, it was as if the sound had never existed at all.As my lungs screamed in pain, I tried to free myself from the plants around me, but it was no use. I felt a strange force pulling at my ankles, dragging me deeper into the water.I kicked and fought, but no matter what I did, it was no use. No matter how much effort I expended, no matter how hard I tried, it was no use. I wasn’t getting anywhere. I was trapped, doomed to die beneath these waters just as I nearly did as a child.Water began to fill my nose and mouth when my lungs gave out, and just before I lost consciousness, the water around me seemed to warp. I knew it was nothing more than a delusion, but I could see a vision of my father rushing toward me, jumping into the river, and pulli
EVELYNI didn’t know what to say to Elsa as she stared at me with those large, doe-like eyes of hers. She was so innocent-looking, so sweet… it felt difficult to tell her anything.She seemed to sense my discomfort and spoke quickly.“It’s okay if you don’t want to say,” she assured me. “I’m not trying to pry. I just… I hope I can be of help to you.”I smiled at her weakly, acknowledging her kind offer. “I appreciate it, Elsa. You’ve been helpful enough already.”I paused for a moment as images danced in my mind.“In fact, I’m not entirely sure what happened,” I admitted.“What do you mean, Evie?” Elsa prompted me softly, reclaiming her spot in the chair next to my bed. She took my hands again as if to comfort me, and it soothed me more than I expected. She was warm and kind, something I hadn’t experienced much of since arriving in the palace a year ago. It was refreshing to feel like someone cared for me, and I was grateful to call Elsa my friend.“I was awoken by Mrs. Porter and Mis
EVELYNNo part of the royal crypt was dedicated to Mistress Claudia?Had I heard Elsa correctly?I frowned at her, unsure of what to think about all of this. Though it was no great secret that the late King Theodore had abandoned his first wife in favor of Sylvia, letting her die lonely of illness, it surprised me to think that the former Alpha King wouldn’t honor her in some way. She and King Theodore had two children together.Wouldn’t that fact alone warrant a place in a crypt, even if their marriage was in shambles toward the end?As for the rest of the tale, the idea of a ghost wandering the river sounded too ridiculous to be true. Though Elsa seemed to believe it blindly, I knew Melanie and her band of gossiping maids were no strangers to conjuring grand lies. I had been the victim of enough of them to no longer trust her words.Rather than crush Elsa’s spirit, I made some sort of excuse after releasing a yawn and mentioned that I was feeling exhausted after my ordeal. My friend
COLE“Nonsense!” Lord Marcel Fox roared. His eyes, uptilted and narrowed, made him appear more like his namesake than a werewolf, and I sat back and watched patiently as he scolded his daughter. His angular face went scarlet with anger as he stood over Skyla, who was kneeling on the ground, sobbing. Her face was pale and her light green eyes were bloodshot as she wept.Anastasia was perched on a settee beside them, a bored expression on her face. She gazed down at her long, perfectly manicured nails as her relatives quarreled.As Skyla’s wailing continued, I gritted my teeth in frustration and gripped the chair beneath me. The sound of it was grating and I wanted nothing more than to finish with this business. “I’m sorry, F-F-Father,” Skyla stammered and sniffled. “I just wanted to m-mess with her-”“Mess with her?” Marcel thundered. “Have you lost your mind, Skyla? Look at what you’ve done! You’re lucky that nothing more happened out there!”His daughter’s shoulders tightened as sh
COLEAt the mention of her name, all eyes in the room turned to Mrs. Porter. The head maid’s face blanched and for the briefest of moments, I almost felt sorry for the older woman.Almost.“Is this true, Mrs. Porter?” I asked her directly, and after the gray-haired maid nodded, I cast a cold glance at Skyla. The young woman wilted slightly, flinching at the daggers I shot at her, and I watched her swallow heavily as she steeled herself for my wrath.“Did my stepmother’s maid grant you such liberties?” I asked Skyla.She nodded hastily, tucking her dark red hair behind her ear. “Yes. It was Mistress Anastasia’s personal maid who permitted me to speak with the other maid.”“Why didn’t you speak plainly about it before?” I pressed. “Why didn’t you say anything when I asked?”“I was s-s-scared, Your Majesty,” Skyla stammered, tears starting to flow down her pale face again. “I didn’t expect a conversation with a maid would lead to such an accident. It wasn’t my intention at all.”My lips
EVELYNI didn’t know what time it was when I awoke in the middle of the night. My vision was blurred, and I couldn’t yet manage to move. I had curled up on my side, facing the door, and I was grateful that Elsa had braided my thick hair away from my face because my body was coated in sweat.This was the worst I’d felt in years, but I was grateful to be alive. I let out a whimper as I tried to stretch. I remained under the covers, as moving was too difficult, but I knew I couldn’t stay here forever. My thirst was all-consuming, and since Elsa wasn’t here, I decided I needed to get up and find water elsewhere.A small yawn escaped me. When I cast the covers aside, I caught a faint smell and realized I wasn’t alone in the room. Beside me, someone was sitting on my bed with his back against the headboard.In normal circumstances, I should have screamed at the sight of an intruder or at least been frightened, but I recognized his scent immediately.“You’re awake?” Cole asked, his voice soun
EVELYN“What… what is this?” I asked Leila, my brow furrowing as I pointed to the symbol on the page. I strained to pull it out from my memories, but my mind felt clouded – overwhelmed by too many events, too many raw emotions. The sleepless nights had left me dizzy, my thoughts fragmented. It was as if I were reaching for something just beyond my grasp, a fleeting thread of clarity that refused to materialize.Leila studied the symbol for a moment before shaking her head. “I’ve seen the same pattern in other parts of the book, but I’m not sure what it means.” She flipped through the pages, showing me the other instances of the same design. “It could just be a random mark left by the book’s owner, something to remind themselves of something important.”“I don’t think it’s random,” Stephanie interjected. She moved closer to the book, her finger tracing the intricate pattern. “It’s far too detailed to be just a meaningless doodle. Do the pages with this symbol have anything in common?”
EVELYNI placed the kettle on the stove and began rummaging through the kitchen cabinets until I finally found some tea. After grabbing a couple of mugs, I dropped the fragrant tea bags into them, then waited for the water to heat.The kitchen remained quiet, with only the gentle hiss of the boiling kettle breaking the stillness. I was relieved that Stephanie hadn’t followed me. It gave me a rare moment to think.I glanced over at her – sitting absentmindedly by the table, her gaze lost somewhere outside the window. Stephanie’s appearance hadn’t changed much, but the weight of her experiences and suffering was etched in her eyes. Those once bright and confident eyes now looked evasive, as though hiding something deeper.Leila’s words echoed in my mind:She believes her brother was deceived by the wizards and wants to convince him to stop the bloodshed.It wasn’t that I disbelieved Stephanie, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that things were not so simple. She was intelligent, and by n
EVELYNThe night seemed to slip away unnoticed.When I glanced out the window, the first pale light of dawn crept over the horizon, the sun rising slowly in the east.The house was quiet once again. Leila, Jasmine, and Stephanie had retired to their rooms, while Seb—still unconscious from the overdose of medicine Leila had given him to ensure he wouldn’t cause trouble before sunrise—lay motionless.As the others slept, I sat at the edge of Cole’s bed, absently running my fingers through his thick, golden hair. Sleep eluded me after the conversation with Leila and Jasmine. Though their arrival should have brought me some sense of relief, the burden in my heart only grew heavier as I processed everything they’d shared.I had thought that if I could just find a way to bring Cole back to Halian, things might start to improve. But Leila had warned that Halian was no longer safe. Attacks were imminent, and Jack Elrod’s plan had already begun to unfold.As Leila and Jasmine explained, war se
EVELYN“Think about Sylvia! She wouldn’t want you to do this!” I struggled against the rope binding my wrist, trying to convince him to abandon his plan. But the man paid no heed. He walked toward Cole and stopped by the bed.He reached for something, but his hand froze midair as a rap echoed from the door.Both of us went still.There was a single, sharp sound, and then silence, as though it were nothing more than a shared figment of our overstrained nerves.The man shot me a glance before cautiously stepping toward the door. His movements were slow and deliberate, meant to make no sound. He gripped the handle, cracked the door open just a sliver, and peered outside.From where I was bound, I couldn’t see anything beyond the door, but something must have caught his eye. He opened it further and stepped outside.It was then that a shadow swooped in, knocking him to the ground.The poor night vision of humans gave him a disadvantage. The man scrambled to his feet, only to be grabbed by
EVELYNI looked up.Through the mist swirling around me, I saw Cole. His hand was outstretched, his eager gaze fixed on me. His chest was broken and bleeding, and he looked lonely and desperate, his dark eyes vast and pleading as they met mine.“Eva...”His voice reached me, pulling me back to the memory of two years ago. The day he’d pleaded, and I had retreated, shaking my head.I’d looked at him with fear and hatred.I’d said no.Every time I thought back to that moment, I believed I would handle it better if it happened again—that I’d calmly fix the confusion and the misunderstandings between my family and Cole.But I had been wrong.I felt glued to the ground, paralyzed. I opened my mouth, but only a harsh cry came out. Sadness and despair gripped me as guilt weighed on my heart like iron.“I… I can’t...” I whispered as I stared down at Conner’s lifeless body, the blood on my hands. No matter what I did, no matter how hard I tried, nothing was fixable. My family, my mate—none of
EVELYNI narrowed my eyes and focus on the paragraph. It was written in a completely different style from the rest of the announcement, looking more like a hasty draft—almost as if a careless scribe had used scrap paper to jot it down.And the paragraph, baffling in its oddness, turned out to be a poem, which the girl read aloud.The once pretty orange has begun its decay, yet the sapphire still gleams. The rotting orange could be saved for a worthy trade: The stone with the deep blue beam. If you still hold the fruit you cherish so dearlyCome and make the trade: Choose not to accept what’s written so clearly -The sapphire with shatter, and the fruit will fade.As the girl finished reading, the people around her erupted in laughter. The sound of their mirth filled the air, an overwhelming chorus that tightened my throat.A man jeered. “Even my teenage son could write a better poem than this. What a laughable mess.”A woman beside him giggled. “The scribe should be fired for sur
EVELYNWhen I woke, it was already morning. The sky outside the window was overcast, but its dull brightness made it clear that it was well past sunrise. I sprang to my feet and placed my hand on Cole’s forehead, checking his temperature. His skin was no longer feverish.I inspected his wound and replaced the damp towel. The bleeding had stopped, and though the swollen flesh was healing, it was slow progress.But that barely gave me any relief.I brushed away the damp strands of hair from his forehead, wiped his face with clean towels, then placed my palm against his cheek, whispering his name. But he didn’t answer. His eyes remained closed, unmoving. He was still unconscious.The wildness had faded from him, but his sanity had yet to return. I didn’t know if it was the lingering effect of the aphrodisiac or if it’s because his mind was being controlled, suppressed.If nothing changed, he would eventually become nothing more than a walking corpse.I shook my head, pushing back the t
EVELYNThe man’s face darkened as I explained what had happened. I told him how Sylvia had pushed me away in the gardens and confronted the guards alone. His jaw tightened, and his eyes narrowed in frustration.“She’s insane,” he muttered, retrieving the piece of sapphire he had used in the crypt. Turning to me, his expression grew sharp.“Where’s the other half?” he asked.I blinked in confusion.What the other piece…As I was about to ask, a sudden heat flared against my abdomen. I reached into my pocket and froze as my fingers brushed against something warm and solid. When I pulled it out, I nearly dropped it – a chunk of sapphire. The stone cooled the moment my fingers wrapped around it. its smooth surface delivering a strange sense of calm and tranquility.I had no idea how it had gotten there.The man’s lips pressed into a grim line as he took the sapphire from me and pressed it together against the piece in his hand. My eyes widened with the two halves fusing seamlessly into a
EVELYNAs the blue aura flashed, all the guards leaped up. Their expressions were filled with terror, their eyes wide, their limbs failing aimlessly in the air. Then they fell to the ground with a heavy crash. The sound of crushing bonds was harsh and chilling, followed by a series of groans echoing through the room. “What…what’s that?” They exchanged panicked glances before their eyes fixed on the dark entrance of the vault, where the blue aura had appeared and still lingered.Jack stiffened as he stared intently at the blueness.Slowly, a man walked out. His figure was tall and strong. He held a piece of sapphire in his hand, which seemed to be the source of the blue aura.It took a moment for me to recognize him. He was the man who had been with Sylvia back at that little house.A wave of relief washed over me. At least the intruder was not an enemy.But why was he here? Was he here to save us?The man gave us no acknowledgement. His gaze fixed on Jack as he picked up a silver da