A childish part of me felt like defending that Emma had started it, but why did it matter? It shouldn’t matter and I tried to make myself believe that. Taide’s attention shifted away from the menu to me, and I cleared my throat before turning my gaze from Caeson and down to the menu like I had
CHARLOTTE Taide was growing out his hair. I sat on the edge of my bed, watching him lean over the mirror on my dresser. His hands combed through his dark hair, smoothing it back and letting it fall forward again. It was longer than I’d ever seen it, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it yet. S
CHARLOTTE I pulled my curls into a bun as I walked down the stairs, my feet moving slowly against the wooden steps. The house was quiet, too quiet, but that was normal these days. My thoughts were scattered until a flicker of movement caught my eye. A flash of black streaked across the foyer. I st
CHARLOTTE I watched the cat nibble on the can of tuna I’d placed on the kitchen island, its tiny pink tongue darting out to lap at the edges.Its fur was such a soft, dark fluff, and as I scratched behind its ear, it leaned into my hand, purring softly. I smiled to myself, feeling an unexpected war
CHARLOTTE I watched the cat nibble on the can of tuna I’d placed on the kitchen island, its tiny pink tongue darting out to lap at the edges.Its fur was such a soft, dark fluff, and as I scratched behind its ear, it leaned into my hand, purring softly. I smiled to myself, feeling an unexpected war
CHARLOTTEI glanced up at Caeson, catching the steady, unreadable expression he always wore. His gaze held mine, cool and unwavering, and for just a moment, something fluttered in my chest.I quickly shoved it aside, clearing my throat.“She’s staying then?” I asked, looking around the room. “We all
CHARLOTTE Turns out, she wasn’t a female cat. It was the other gender, of course. Funny thing to discover in the hours I’d had him. What was less funny, though, was realizing I might be a terrible cat mom. Why? Because I’d lost him. Or—someone had stolen him. That last idea seemed a lit
CHARLOTTE I felt a nervous flutter in my stomach as I trailed behind Reigh on our way to Taide’s room. My fingers twisted the hem of my shirt, trying to calm my growing anxiety. I didn’t know why I’d let Reigh get involved in this—or why I’d even told him anything in the first place. The topic
His hair… was trimmed once again to a low buzz cut.But the expression on his face was so bitter that I froze in my tracks.Something was wrong.I looked back up to the podium, searching the stage for a particular face, and not finding it.King Auric wasn’t here.Reigh grated out in my ear, “I hated
CHARLOTTEMy feet were already retreating before my mind had even fully registered what I was seeing.My heart couldn’t take it. Not today. Not after everything. I felt it splinter open as I spun on my heel and bolted as fast as the crowd would let me, shoving my way past people back the way he came
CHARLOTTE My entire body trembled as I slammed the front door shut, pressing my hands against it like I was trying to push myself back in time. To before I opened the door. Before I saw the gruesome sight. I choked on oxygen, hunching over. Bile rises up my throat as I remember what I just saw.
GRADUATION DAY CHARLOTTE I didn’t get much sleep last night. Or any sleep. I looked around my room, taking in the space again. It didn’t look as bad as it was a couple of days ago. All the glass had been swept away, and all the damage left was broken doors and a non-functional shower. Not the m
CHARLOTTE I didn’t want another surprise. I just wanted them to stop acting so weird. “Reigh told me what happened at the palace wasn’t serious when I asked him,” I pointed out as the memory hit. “How could your dad finding out about Madeline not be important?” Taide sighed before parking both h
24 HOURS BEFORE JUNIOR YEAR GRADUATION CHARLOTTE The sound of Reigh’s door closing softly woke me up. I blinked into the darkness, looking for him. He didn’t come into the house with me yesterday. All he did was drop me off. Initially, I didn’t want to be alone with Caeson, knowing Taide w
He suddenly frowned at me before asking, “How can you be so stupid, Charlotte?” My head reared. “Excuse me?” “What exactly do you think is going to happen between you and these boys? Or you know what, I’ll do you one better. How could you even let things get this far?” I cut him a stern warn
CHARLOTTE Shopping wasn’t as fun or eventful as I’d hoped. I spent most of my time between clothes racks, barely fascinated by the colors or cuts of the dresses I picked. Instead, I kept wondering where Taide was and tried to understand what had happened with Caeson. Unaware, my hand lifted to
I reached up to loosen his grip, my vision growing watery, but he just pressed down harder. “I’ll never let you forget who you are, harlot,” he spat, venom dripping from his tone. The words hit me with such hatred that I was taken back to the moments when I was nothing more than a victim of his and