AryaShock reverberates in my body. I don't know what to say. For a second I struggle to understand what she means, then it occurs to me that she is talking about the weird pit that Levi and I found in the forest.My heart starts to beat really fast. "Where will I start? What am I supposed to find?""Me. You will find me," she whispers. "Find the old shed up north. I'm just right here. I've been here for days. . . ."I have so many questions to her, and even though I know she can get cut off anytime, I decide to chance it and ask in a rush, "Who is doing this to you? Why are they doing this? Have you seen the others? Do you know where they are?"Daphne struggles to open her mouth, but she takes a harrowing breath and then her scene starts to vanish. She's saying something, but her words come out warbled somehow, like she's saying them from so far away and something is purposefully destroying her voice and her words as they travel.Then, just like that, everything turns black and I hea
AryaFor an entire moment I thought that this is indeed Daphne and something has been done to her, but then I remember the strange story that Levi has about me when he was in the dungeon of the palace, when I held him captive.The melting creature who looked like me, but isn’t me. The creepy thing that took my form and tried to trick him.This creature is exactly like that.Melting and taking the form of Daphne, down to the last detail of her in my dream.My heart starts to pound fast inside my chest. I try to run, but the thing grabs my legs and looks up at me.“Don’t go,” it says, still in Daphne’s voice. “Take me with you.”If I didn’t know better, I would think that this is indeed her, that she’s just terribly hurt and burnt in this place, but I can feel that it’s not her. There’s some sort of dark energy emanating from it, and it’s making it hard to breathe. Right now I feel suffocated just standing close to it.I know I should just run. That would be the smartest thing to do rig
AryaAll the air seems to have sucked out of the forest. I'm breathing hard, clutching my chest as I look at Nancy.It feels like a big clock is ticking over my head, telling me that we're running out of time, saying that something is not going right."No," I mumble. "Nancy. . . ."Arthur and I scramble to our feet and we both rush towards her. Things seem to happen faster, as though the fact that we came close to her is the catalyst for things to go south. Arthur heaves her into his arms and together we rush out of the forest. My mind is whirring with possibilities and my chest is tight with fear.What happened with Nancy? What is happening right now?What did she do? What did she have to do just to get rid of the bats? I haven't even been able to wrap my head around the simple fact that we were all driven here by the same dream that turned out to be a trap, and I hate that this is what it turned into."Where are we going to go?" Arthur asks shakily as we get out of the forest. "Wher
AryaI was about to come give Gammie a hug when her words stop me completely. “What do you mean, Gammie?”She hesitates and shifts her weight from one foot to another, her gaze flitting from me to my mom. She also looks at the door of the infirmary and says, “I will go see my granddaughter first.” With that, she looks at my mom. “Your Majesty, I would like to ask for some assistance for Nancy. Please, her parents are out of the country for a convention, and I need her to be back in my home so I can look after her.”Mom looks a bit surprised because of her sudden request, but she immediately nods and calls on the guards, whispering commands.Soon enough, Nancy is being carried on a comfy bed to one of the big vans that the kingdom owns. Arthur gets behind the wheel and me in the front seat, with Mom and Gammie in the back with Nancy.“I apologize for all of this,” Gammie says, and for a moment I wonder what she’s apologizing for, exactly. “I didn’t mean to bother all of you like this.
AryaMy mouth falls open. "A Shape Shifter?"Gammie nods, looking at the drawing on the book again. "I know that us Lycans and Werewolves have been considered shape shifters for a very long time, but this is different."Her ominous tone makes all of us listen closely, but it's the look of pure fear and apprehension in her eyes that makes all of shiver. Gammie never looked this way before, not even when there was something bad happening to Simon. She's always the one able to summon some calmness in the hardest times, so this reaction is chilling to see.I don't even know if I want to know how the rest of her story goes, but I still muster the courage to ask, "What do you mean? How are they different from us?""Well," she begins. pausing as though to weigh her words. "There are two known shape shifters in all of history, a man and a woman, but the woman decided to go a different path. She decided to give up this great power and settle to be one creature for the rest of her life. Now he
AryaThe silence in the whole room is almost deafening. My heart doesn't seem to be beating even at this point. I feel like I'm going to die. I can't breathe or blink or even move.For a long while none of us speaks. Gammie looks away and is just staring into the distance now, while Mom is fighting down tears.The only one who doesn't seem to be staying still and silent is Arthur, who just shot up to his feet and looked at Gammie."What do you mean Arya is the mate?" There's apparent anger and frustration in his voice, but I don't think it's directed at Gammie. "She's my mate. I marked her. I mated her. That would not happen unless she's been marked by someone else. And hell, she was supposedly Levi's mate. They had a mate bond. Why the hell is that irrelevant now?"Gammie looks at him with a pitying look in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Arthur. I hope you don't think I'm making this up. Arya is his mate. Look at her neck. Your mark has been erased. It's never permanent because she's already
AryaEverything is hazy, but at the same time, I can see everything.I can recognize the forest in the kingdom with its brightly colored trees. Red and orange and dark green, all swaying in the wind. The sweeping hills could have been the same thing in reality, just missing the palaces and the houses and the people.But the only thing in the fields right now is a man and a woman, sitting on some kind of blanket, talking.I recognize the man as Rhysand the Shape Shifter, and lying across his lap wearing a flowy dress is a white-blonde woman with kind blue eyes.It doesn't take me long to recognize that the woman is Ivory.It just feels like I know her.The man is stroking her hair, and they're both smiling, talking in hushed voices. Even from afar I can see that she has a mark on her neck, something that is all too familiar to me: a mark from her mate.They look at each other and at first all I can see is pure love, but there's a certain strain in her eyes that can't be dismissed.The
Arya Waves of repulsion ripple through my body. I want to snap out of this memory and come back to reality, but nothing is happening. I concentrate hard enough, willing all of it to go away. . . . But the scene only changes, and I find myself in a strange white space. There are no visible walls. There is no ceiling, no floor. No anything. Just a big space of pure white that stretches on for miles and miles. The only thing that’s in it is a female figure. And I instantly recognize it as Ivory. She looks at me, her eyes filled with dread and nerves, coupled with a hint of pride that I know would never disappear no matter what. She, after all, has always been proud. “So you loved him before,” is the only thing I manage to say to her. “Rhysand was your mate. But you were Shape Shifters and not Lycans.” “He was the only thing I had,” she says after a beat. “And similarly, I was the only thing he had. That bond couldn’t be erased easily. Even after centuries. Even after I made clear t