SERAPHINA’S POVI sit alone on Artemis's balcony, wrapped in my own arms, staring quietly at the full moon overhead. My thoughts keep drifting back to that unsettling dream – was it even a dream? - wrestling with the impossibility of making sense of it all. The only logical explanation I can muster is that I must have sleepwalked—trashed the room and nearly stabbed Artemis as he walked in.I still can't piece together how that knife ended up in my hands; there are unnerving gaps in my memory. “Here you go,” Artemis says, reappearing to hand me a bowl of ice cream.I take it, stirring the chocolate ice cream absentmindedly with my spoon as he sits beside me, digging into his own bowl. “I'm sorry,” I finally murmur, unable to meet his eyes.“For what exactly? Trashing my room or nearly turning me into a cyclops?” he teases, chuckling to lighten the mood.I offer a bitter laugh in return, biting my lip and looking away. “Hey, you said it was an accident. So, it's okay.”“No, it's no
SERAPHINA’S POVThe next morning, I'm jolted from my deep slumber by the sound of laughter – particularly the kind you'd hear after every punchline in an old nineties sitcom.I ignore it, thinking it's just an extension of my dream until it resounds again, originating from the outside world, and my body descends. I groan with annoyance, hating the fact that I'm being woken up so early in the morning and swiftly turning to get whoever it is to shut the fuck up. Then, out of nowhere, a migraine hits me like a bomb.I can feel every blood vessel pumping blood to my brain, each pulse fast and hard, causing excruciating pain in the process. Settling back down on my pillow, I keep my eyes shut, waiting for the discomfort to subside. Once it does, I tentatively open my eyes, only to be immediately blinded by the morning light flooding the room. Ah, it's definitely morning.Obnoxious laughter echoes once again. Slowly turning to the side, my vision begins to normalize. I find myself stari
SERAPHINA’S POVI cough just as Juliet, who's been my makeover maestro for the evening, dabs into her eyeshadow palette to add another layer onto my lids. "Sera, you'll smudge it if you keep squirming like that," she warns."Is all this really necessary?" I ask, a touch of exasperation in my voice. Two hours of skincare treatments, an hour for hair, and now we're thirty minutes deep into the makeup phase. I’m in Alice and Juliet’s room, and my face feels as though it's laminated with all the products they've applied. I mean, it's just a three-hour party, and let's be honest—I'll probably enjoy only the first hour before my social battery taps out.Juliet rolls her eyes but remains laser-focused on my eyes. "Yes, Sera, it's absolutely necessary. You're the star tonight; you have to look the part.""But it feels like you're prepping me for the Oscars, not a college party," I counter, sneaking a glance at my increasingly unfamiliar reflection in the mirror.Alice, who's giving the f
SERAPHINA’S POVIt seemed like a fantastic idea in my head to approach Lucian, but as I draw closer to the group of guys he's with, self-doubt and nervousness flood over me. Just when I'm about to retreat, our eyes lock—his silver eyes meeting mine. We both freeze for a moment, suspended in time.His eyes widen as if he's seeing me for the first time, or maybe he's just taking in my new look. Whatever it is, it seems to catch him completely off guard."Hey!" he's the first to break the silence, pulling away from his friends almost immediately."Hey!" I echo, injecting my voice with enthusiasm as I attempt to cloak my nervousness.In mere seconds, he's closed the distance between us, standing close enough for me to catch the mix of his cologne and a slight, manly musk."Awesome party you've got going on here," he says, edging even closer.Fumbling awkwardly with my fingers, I suddenly become hyper-aware of my outfit, my makeup, every little detail. But even in the midst of my self-c
A FEW MOMENTS EARLIERARTEMIS’ POV"Any sign of Morgan yet?""None. He's done a good job of hiding ever since evidence came to light about his crew attacking Kamila and Sera," Jasper replies as we complete our final round through the school.It's as if the bastard has vanished off the face of the earth. Despite my efforts to get the school to flush him out, it's like hitting a brick wall; the investigation just can't seem to break through.He crossed a line with Seraphina, even after my warnings. And he thinks he can get away with it? Not a chance. I'll draw out the big guns if I have to. Run, hide—it won't matter. I will find him. And when I do, blood will spill.My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I check the message from Ace. ‘They're done,’ it reads, which means Sera and her friends are almost at the party.I can't help the small smile that manages to find its way to my face when he sends a picture along with the text.Her two friends are literally dragging her out of the room, wh
ARTEMIS POV"Artemis, where are you going?" Jasper's voice calls out to me, but I ignore him. All I want is to escape this rowdiness, to find solitude far away from Sera and her all-too-perfect moment with fucking Lucian.I push my way through the crowd, heading toward an old shack in the distance. How dare she? After everything I've done for her, she chooses to hang out with that jerk? Laugh with him? She's never laughed like that with me. Never twirled her hair around her finger while I talked to her, never looked at me with eyes that twinkled quite so brightly.With each thought, my chest tightens further, the knot of emotions becoming almost unbearable. My wolf dies a little by the second, stabbed down with a dreadful feeling."Artemis?" A new voice pierces through my storm, pulling me out of my misery.I look up. "Zoya?" I say, hoping I've remembered her name correctly.The wide smile she gives me right before engulfing me in a hug lets me know I was spot on.She's the first
SERAPHINA’S POVI follow the two guys down a path leading to the outskirts of the school and deeper into the woods. A part of me screams to turn back, to return to the party or maybe even go home where it's safe.But the thought of going home means facing Artemis, and right now, that's not something I can bear. Just thinking about him brings back those awful images of him kissing some girl in an alley. It's infuriating, confusing even, because I can't quite fathom why I'm so angry in the first place.After all, it's none of my business what he does. He has a mate, and last I checked, we're not even friends. What he does in his free time, or whoever he's grinding against, shouldn't be my concern.My actual business here is to ensure Olivia gets the revenge she deserves after what these people did to her. I have no idea what I'm going to do, but a subtle feeling tells me I might gather some evidence for the school board if I follow them. We walk for a while until we spot what looks
SERAPHINA’S POVI admit to myself that I may have significantly overestimated my spying skills when I decided to follow the enemy into their hiding spot. What's worse, I went in alone without letting anyone know of my whereabouts.Being chained in the corner of a dark room has made that pretty clear to me now. I regret my actions, and the way my cheeks sting painfully serves as a harsh reminder. However, dwelling in regret all night won't do me any good.Morgan has my phone, which means he could easily contact Juliet or Alice if he wanted to. I can't let that happen. Frantically, I search for a way out, straining my eyes in the near-darkness for anything I could use to pick the lock. The room is too dark to see clearly, the only source of light being the moonlight filtering in through a large window on the side. I struggle with my chains for another minute before surrendering to my helplessness, giving up altogether. “Dammit.” I swear under my breath.The worst part of my curren