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
CHARLOTTE Taide straightened, raising his hands and leaning them on either side of the threshold above his head. “I don’t understand how this is supposed to work,” he said. “You want me to watch?” No. The thought came quick. But then again, I thought about it. Maybe there was an exhibitio
“We should do it in your room,” I said. Reigh looked at me, then Taide, before muttering, “Okay.” “Thirty minutes,” I said. A slow grin spread on his face. “Yes, ma’am.” I looked at Taide, repeating, “Thirty minutes.” He nodded his head. Okay. Okay. We were doing this. Thirty minut
He smirked down at me. “Had to be a lightweight, huh?” My smile only widened, and he brushed his thumb over the corner of my lips before pulling back. Reigh approached, hands free, and under the growing drunken haze, I studied Taide in nothing but low-strung shorts, and Reigh adorned lasciviousl
Flutters filled my belly as Taide kissed a slow path upwards, and Reigh did the opposite, leaving wet licks and kisses as he moved further south. He spread my thighs wider to accommodate the width of his shoulders, and all modesty was lost as the sensation of him running his tongue over me hit at
He positioned himself at my entrance, hesitation so evident in the tense lines of his shoulders, before he pushed forward slightly. Pulling back, he did so again, and that’s when I felt the stretch. When he did it again, a burning sensation made me press my eyes together. Two hands grabbed at
CHARLOTTE With the blanket covering my bare chest firmly secured under my arms, I ran my tongue over my upper teeth and winced a little when my canines dug into the soft skin and left a cut. My new teeth were way too sharp to constantly be in my mouth, but I still hadn’t figured out a way to retra
CHARLOTTE I studied the now healed spot on my wrist with wide, contemplative eyes. Other than a few reddish marks from the brief flow of blood, I would have believed that my arm was never even wounded. Reigh gripped my wrist a little tighter, pulling me out of my thoughts. Without warning this
PRESENT DAY CHARLOTTE Whoever said a person’s world couldn’t go up in flames in the blink of an eye deserved an award. It was the best lie ever told. I stood alone, even though I was surrounded—by the same people who had set out to destroy me ever since I showed up at this school two years ago.
I just wanted to be alone. Because… I already was. And it was high time I got used to it. An ache built in my chest, growing by the second, no matter how hard I tried to build walls around the pain. Isolate it. It just grew and grew. The journey to getting myself back was most likely going to b
24 HOURS AFTER JUNIOR YEAR GRADUATION CHARLOTTE Numbness spread through my entire being with a frosty, icy bite. But I didn’t feel it. That’s what pain did to you. It broke you to the point that there was no connection for the sensation to travel through anymore. Laughter. It kept reoccurring
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