BECKYAfter days and nights of hard work, I finally hit my breaking point and collapsed.Dickson had been right when he’d tried to tell me to slow down, but I hadn’t been eager to listen. So, when my body finally caved, I succumbed to an intense bout of illness. Dickson ushered me into a private room in the clinic and started treating me right away.I was feverish for days and my mind was dizzy. The hours moved in ways I couldn’t comprehend, and I didn’t know how long I had been sleeping. I could feel it when Dickson came into my room and applied a cool cloth to my forehead, but I didn’t have the strength to say anything. I was far too weak to move or speak.Sometimes, I had nightmares. In those wicked dreams, I would see the faces of Marina and Angela, as well as shadow-like beings that lingered in the background. The shadows would surround me and try to engulf me with their black power.I would wake from them crying but then fall back into heavy slumber. This continued on for a whil
BECKYJust as Jasper suggested, Marley’s report was concise and clear.The reanimated corpses had gained newfound strength in death. They were able to move and attack swiftly and gracefully. They also had great physical strength, more so than some of the most impressive and powerful werewolves in Wegalla.However, they didn’t seem to possess the ability to think for themselves. Marley also wrote that she didn’t think they had sight as well because when the surviving guard ran away for help and returned with a group of heavily armed individuals, they all witnessed the living dead still attacking the body of the dead guard. Marley surmised that the smell of flesh and blood attracted them to a target and that alone seemed to be the reason why they attacked.As I scanned the report, I made note of a few question marks Marley had scrawled beside some bulleted points. There seemed to be some things she wasn’t sure about, but from her findings, I could draw a few simple truths.First, the “l
CASSANDRAThe moment I agreed to help Helene, I regretted it and wished I could take my promise back. How could I possibly help Ronald’s fiancee escape from Yurene when I was still in trouble myself?But Helene appeared greatly moved. Her light brown eyes filled with tears, and her cheeks blushed a deep shade of rose as she reached across the table and took my hands in hers.“Thank you,” she uttered quietly as she squeezed lightly and gave me a grateful smile.I smiled back at her, but before I could reply, the door to the cafe opened, and the bells chimed as Helene’s maid returned. The poor girl’s cheeks were flushed and she panted heavily as she rushed over to the table.“I searched high and low, but your ring wasn’t in the shop, my lady,” Alana lamented, and her eyes fell to the ground as if she were steeling herself for physical punishment. “I don’t know what could have happened to it.”As the maid tensed up as if by instinct, Helene pondered her statement for a moment, and then,
CASSANDRAAnubis suddenly snorted and glanced at me with irritation with yet even further cruelness.“Healer Cassandra hasn’t even agreed yet,” he sneered, and his black eyes flashed. “It seems our king isn’t charming enough to illicit a response.”As he laughed, Raven appeared surprised. She folded her legs beneath her and sat forward.“Why wouldn’t you want to marry Kaleb?” she asked me in confusion. “Every girl in Yurene dreams about the king.”Anubis lifted a thick dark brow. “Including you, Raven?”Raven’s jaw dropped and she shook her head firmly. “Me? Of course not! My sister, though… she probably went nuts when she heard about this.”Anubis laughed again, and I felt my face flush as I watched this exchange. Roxy had seemed intense when I’d met her, so I was a little surprised to find out that she admired Kaleb. Then again, with how cruel and blunt the dark-haired beauty was, I couldn’t be too shocked that the cruel Northern king was her type.As I glanced at Kaleb, I wondered
CASSANDRAAs my head began to pound from the influx of this new information, I stared off in the far corners of the room.I saw movement in my peripheral vision, and then I felt Kaleb sit on the couch beside me. I glanced briefly in his direction, and he held a tissue out to me. Though my cheeks were stained with tears, I didn’t take it. I knew this was all by design. Every step he took was deliberate, and today’s conversation was no exception. He allowed me to listen to what Raven was going to say and then watched me break down.Though I wanted to continue crying and dissolve into my sadness, I took a few deep breaths and calmed myself. Ronald was right. There was no way I could fight against Kaleb, at least not directly. I needed to be cunning and brave if I wanted to take the king of Yurene down.So, I forced myself to look into his dark blue eyes.“Are there truly 50,000 people in Wild Crawler who have caught the disease?” I asked him quietly.Kaleb didn’t answer directly. Instead
CASSANDRANervousness plagued me the entire way back to my chamber. On one hand, I was afraid that Helene’s maid would notice the thing her mistress had placed in my pocket, and on the other, I was eager to know what it was.When I reached my room, I took a moment to greet Erika and Finnick, and then I told Erika I needed to read something. Though the declaration was a little bit of a lie, it wasn’t an unusual excuse by any means. I’d spent most of my days reading since I’d arrived in Vlokwell- usually eagerly studying the books Emmett had left for me and searching for clues.Finnick was too busy playing by himself to notice anything was amiss, and as I walked by and headed to the quiet corner I’d claimed as my reading nook, I found myself missing him dearly. We saw each other daily, but with everything happening, I didn’t get the quality time I was used to with him.I had duties to fulfill, and once I did, Finnick and I, along with Erika, would find our way back to Wegalla. Back to A
ASHERI had never expected the condition to be so dangerous for me. Of course, expectation was one thing and reality was another.I stared down at the killer whose throat had just been slitted. He was the third killer we’d been forced to take the life of this week. Though these would-be assassins were not very skilled, they all seemed to be loyal to their master. None of them had said who sent them here to kill the king before their deaths, but Kane and Silas had their theories. My stepbrother thought it could be just about anyone, but the Beta assumed the man who hired these assassins was his own father.Though Oliver was the most suspected of the bunch, Kane suggested that it wasn’t just him who wanted to use this chance to take the crown.The second and third killers came only half a day apart, which meant our whereabouts had been exposed. It came as no surprise to me that our route had been compromised. Since we had taken command of the Myriad and taken a few elite soldiers with u
ASHER“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Silas uttered before I had the chance to say a word.Kane’s violet eyes flashed and his eyebrows creased together in confusion. “Oh? And what would you suggest we do, Silas? I’m not hearing you brainstorm any helpful ideas. Please, the floor is all yours. Offer up something useful.”Silas’ demeanor grew defensive and his lips drew into a thin line. When he didn’t reply within a second or two, Kane scoffed in his direction.“That’s what I thought,” my stepbrother remarked and then he smirked. “You have nothing in mind, do you, Moses?”He took care to emphasize Silas’ surname, and it was spat with venom right back at the Beta. I knew Silas didn’t trust Kane, nor did my stepbrother fully trust Silas. The two men stared at one another silently, and tension hung in the air. I allowed this to go on for a minute, and then I cleared my throat and stepped between them.“Enough,” I said in a low and warning voice, and I held my hands up in an attempt t