OpheliaI kept my mind blank and expression neutral as I walked up the steps leading into the safe house.Had I not taken another dosage of my daily potion I would have been drowning in a sea of volatile emotions. All of which stemmed from the fact that somehow my father had torn open a portal on Lunar Isle.That wasn’t at all what I had in mind when I said I needed a distraction.I pinched my lips together and took a moment to compose myself before opening the front door. Surely he knew that wasn’t what I had wanted. As angry as I was with Jude and Ryker I never wanted innocent people to suffer.Not having access to my emotions didn’t make me crave bloodshed. Sometimes, in situations such as Ren Nakamura or Ernesto, it was necessary, but not in this case.“Ophelia, right on schedule.” My father said by way of greeting as I slipped through the dining room. He stood in the small kitchen, leaning against the counter. Sitting on top was a cutting board. A butchers knife stuck out of it,
OpheliaI shook my head as if that would untangle the clusterfuck of information currently rattling around in my skull.“Opening a portal into the heart of the demon realm wouldn’t just let a few measly demons through. It would let them all through. It…It would be chaos. Bloodshed. The end of—of everything.”“No, that’s where you’re wrong.” He insisted. “Our ability will allow us to control the demons. They’ll act how we want them to act. Think how we want them to think.”“But I can’t control demons!” My voice had a shrillness to it that made me wince. My father pulled back, a small but knowing smile on his face that gave me pause. “You think I can control them.”“Yes, I do.”His answer was a punch to the gut for reasons he wouldn’t understand. If I could control the demons—if I possessed that ability from the very beginning—then it truly was my fault that Denver, Arielle, and Sara had died. It was my fault Coop was now possessed.I could have saved them all had I known.My magic reac
Ophelia “Chin up, girl! Oh, and tuck that stomach of yours in. Honestly, try not to look so pathetic, Ophelia. You’re being mated to an Alpha.” Mother muttered quietly, “Goddess only knows how that one happened.” I bit my tongue when she yanked the front of my simple cotton dress down, exposing a fair amount of cleavage. Speaking up would only make things worse. She might not be able to strike my face, but she knew how to punish without leaving marks. “Yes, Lucille.” She didn’t care for when I called her mother. Apparently, it made her feel old. That didn’t stop Astrid and Kimberly from calling her it, but they’d always been her favorites. Mother snared a lock of my strawberry-blonde hair and tugged hard. Her flat, dark eyes scoured my face in search of a flinch or wince. “You should have let me dye this mess for you. Alas, it’s too late. Not that it matters in the slightest.” She said with the wave of her hand, “Soon enough, you’ll be someone else’s problem.” A problem, that’s
OpheliaPain raced up the side of my face as Lucille’s hand made contact with my cheek.“You petulant girl, are you even listening to me?”I wasn’t.“Yes, Lucille.”Two of the movers entered in through the front door, sparing me from hearing her retort. A slimy smile wormed its way across her nude painted lips. She clasped her hands together and cooed at the men tasked with carrying the furniture out to the truck. The dirty look she shot me over her shoulder was a warning that this conversation wouldn’t be forgotten.It was hard to care when the shredded bond in my chest writhed in agony, leaving me in near-constant pain.Astrid flounced down the stairs, turning her slender nose up at me as she passed. The wheels of her designer suitcase whirled softly against the hardwood floor. Inside was all the clothes, shoes, and make-up she’d need for the week it would take the movers to transport all their stuff.With my lonesome duffle bag tucked neatly in the trunk of the Bentley, there was n
Ophelia Sun block, and ocean mist. Those were the scents of my childhood, the ones that clung to the bits and pieces of the half-formed memories rattling around in my skull. I breathed each one in through the tiny bedroom window at the tippy top of Lucille’s modernistic nightmare of a beach villa. She’d stuffed me in the attic like a frail Victorian child she was afraid of the neighbors seeing. Little did she know, she was doing me a favor. Kimberly, my older sister, was moving out of her dorm at Eclipse University and back home to be closer to our darling mother. Why she felt the need to come back when she only lived thirty minutes away, I’d never know. That made the attic my safe haven. “Ophelia!” Or so I’d thought. I rolled out of bed, sneezing when a plume of dust hit my nose. It was like she purposefully kept the attic in shambles. Whatever, at least it would give me a project to focus on. The door creaked as I opened it, “Yes, Lucille?” “Make yourself presentable and
Ophelia“Spill the tea, girl. I know Kim-Kim’s done a thing or two in her past.” Diana smacked her glossed lips as we sped down the blackened highway into Eclipse City.Chloe, the bubbly blonde in the back seat, laughed loudly.“We won’t tell a soul!”The surly, narrow-eyed Gemma mimed zipping her lips and throwing away the key. I knew what I told them would make the rounds throughout the entirety of Lunar Isle.I rummaged around, sorting through memories that bubbled in my gut like acid. Without warning, they began to spew from my mouth. Word after word, I told Diana and her friends all about the kind of person Kimberly was.Each transgression lingered in the air, and for the life of me I couldn’t stop talking.First grade she’d pelted me with rocks and clumps of mud on the walk to school. Third grade she’d chopped my hair off and laughed as I cried. Fifth she shredded every article of clothing I owned, leaving them in tatters. Seventh and she’d already rallied the entire school agai
OpheliaI brought it to my lips and inhaled, immediately chucking the thing at Denver when my lungs seized. A cough tore at my chest, so strong that my eyes watered. No matter how hard I tried to breathe in, all I could do was hack and cough.It tasted awful. Like burnt grass and chewed lavender.The four of them chuckled, descending into laughter that rang heavily in my ears. Heat warmed my cheeks, carrying embarrassment that quickly faded when Sarah herself erupted in a fit of wet coughing.When I finally managed to stop, I realized I felt different.There was this odd sensation dancing along my skin, like little bursts of electricity. As they burrowed deep, they melted into a blissful numbness that had my shoulders drooping and eyelids growing heavy.Goddess, what was this stuff?Coop rolled his head my way, “Nice, isn’t it? It’s official name is Dark Matter. Think of it as the magical version of weed. It’s blessed by a witch with an earth affinity, so it’s extra potent.”I blinked
JudeRevving the engine of my bike, I peeled out of the garage and into the blanket of night enshrouding the idyllic neighborhood of Crescent Hills.Normally I’d tap into my nature magic and shift, either taking to the skies or forest, but I wanted to conserve my strength. Not that it mattered in the slightest. The opponents at La Stella were abysmal at best.Ryker was going to be pissed, but when wasn’t he pissed?After enduring that group spell with his preening girlfriend, I needed to blow off some steam. It was either that or I slit her throat and be done with it.Now, that would piss him off.It had taken us long enough to get our coven together and in line, and the last thing my noble half-brother wanted to do was hunt down his girlfriend’s younger sister to fill the empty spot.I didn’t particularly care what he wanted, but I also didn’t feel like dealing with his wrath. The guy was a thorn in my damn side, but he was probably the only soul on earth I gave a fuck about.Plus, w