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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
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2023-06-14 21:11:07Related chapters
Matched (Mortal, Book Three) CHAPTER ELEVEN
WinterI stumble as the ground beneath me gives way, my heart racing with fear. I can hear the others shouting, but their voices are muffled by the sound of rocks and debris crashing around us. I land hard on my side, and pain shoots up my arm."Winter!" Alec's voice is frantic. "Are you okay?"I groan, trying to sit up but finding that my arm won't support me. "I think I hurt my arm," I say, wincing."We have to get out of here," Damon says, grabbing my good arm and helping me to my feet. "Now."We start running, our footsteps echoing through the cave as we try to find our way out. But the path we took before is blocked by fallen rocks, and the walls are shifting and changing so much that we can't even tell which way is up."This way!" Elena calls, pointing to a narrow tunnel that seems to be the only way out.We sprint through the cave, dodging falling debris and jumping over crevices that have opened up in the ground. The air is thick with dust and the scent of dirt and roc
Last Updated : 2023-06-14Matched (Mortal, Book Three) CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
TyrI stare deeper into the crystal ball, doing my best to clear my mind. It's hard. Nearly impossible.But I do it.Finally, shapes take form. People. No. Bodies.My breath catches in my throat, and I grab the edges of the table. Its several people sprawled dead at the bottom of some stairs. A man and a woman in plainclothes, and a Silver Hunter.My breath becomes hot. I started the viewing searching for Finnegan, needing to check in on her expedition.But where is she?Closing my eyes, I steady myself and try again. This time I see more steps. They go up …More bodies. This time they're all Silver Hunters.Only two of them still stand. Finnegan and a man. They pace around a platform, arguing loudly and waving their arms.I can't hear what they're saying, but I get the gist of it. They've failed the mission. They've lost the Golden Coin.Furious, I slam my fist onto the table. Stupid Silver Hunters! I should have never trusted them."... Winter," Finnegan says.My ears
Last Updated : 2023-06-14Matched (Mortal, Book Three) CHAPTER SEVEN
Winter"Which way to the river?" I look around the dark forest."That's ... the thing." Damon scrunches his face. "Remember how I said things are constantly changing here?"My stomach drops. "Yeah.""The landscape can change at a moment's notice. Sometimes the river is there, and sometimes it's not. I'm sure there's a pattern to it, but I haven't been able to figure out what that is."I chew on my lip. "Okay. No big deal."Alec climbs on top of a fallen tree and looks around. I can tell he's using his heightened senses to listen for any danger, but Damon doesn't know that. We still haven't told him where we're from or what we are.Then again, in my case, I don't really know what I am. People at Hawthorn either treated me like I was something special or a freak. No one ever gave me a concrete answer."Let's try this way." Alec points.I nod. He must have picked up on the scent of water or something."Sounds good to me." Damon starts walking, his hands on his backpack straps.
Last Updated : 2023-06-14Matched (Mortal, Book Three) EPILOGUE
WinterMy knees hit a hard floor, and the light around me disappears. "Alec!" I scream. "Alec!""Winter!" Someone grabs my shoulder, and I turn to Alec, ready to embrace him.But it's not him. It's Damon.My heart falls and keeps on falling. I kneel there staring at Damon, my mouth hanging open.We're back in the lighthouse, morning light surrounding us, the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks. The old man sits in his chair, studying us."Where is he?" I croak.Damon's gaze drops. "Winter ..."No. I can't believe this. It can't be happening.I shake my head, tears streaming down my face. This isn't real. Alec can't be dead."Why did he do that?" I sob."He did it for us." Damon's eyes are red and wet.Scrambling to my feet, I rush over to the old man. "Our friend gave himself up for us. He sacrificed himself! There has to be a way to bring him back, right? Right?"The old man blinks at me. "He made the ultimate sacrifice.""Yes! That's what I'm saying!"Still
Last Updated : 2023-06-14Matched (Mortal, Book Three) CHAPTER FIFTEEN
AlecI barrel into Winter, shoving her out of the way. We both land hard on the ground, my forearms breaking my fall and her landing on her side. The pebbles rain down behind us, their impact on the ground making booms that rattle the canyon.Elena, Hank, and Damon stare at us with dropped jaws."Don't move, anyone." I carefully sit up.Winter is frozen, her brow furrowed. "What happened?""You almost got hit by some pebbles. Remember what they're like here? How heavy they are?""Oh, yeah." She shakes her head, and I can tell she's disappointed in herself. "I wasn't thinking.""It's okay." I offer her my hand. The moment she slips her palm into it, it’s like the rest of the world disappears.I pull her to standing, and she blinks at me. Heat spreads through me. I want to pull her closer, to press my lips to hers, to hold her tight until the end of time.Instead, I just stand there like a dummy."Glad you're okay." I release her hand and look away, but not before I see the d
Last Updated : 2023-06-14Matched (Mortal, Book Three) CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Alec"Get down," I hiss at Damon and Winter.The three of us drop to the platform, pressing ourselves flat against it so that the Silver Hunters can't see us."How did they find the lighthouse?" Winter whispers.I shake my head. "Same way we did?""They look like bad news." Damon chews his bottom lip. "Okay, we need a plan.""Hold on." I hold a finger to my lips and tune into my heightened hearing. I can just make out what the Silver Hunters are saying."Maybe the tower tossed them down here," a man says. He must be referring to Hank and Elena's bodies. "Another spell or trick.""Or not," a woman says."This whole place is crawling with beasts,” a second man chimes in. “I tell you what. I won’t be an experiment like Ted was. I’m not the first to climb those steps.”“You’ll follow your orders,” the woman growls. “That’s what you’ll do.”I glance back at Damon and Winter, who are staring at me expectantly. “They think there’s something else here besides us. Something dangero
Last Updated : 2023-06-14Matched (Mortal, Book Three) CHAPTER TEN
Winter"You're a werewolf?" Alec blurts out.A sheepish look crosses Damon's face. "Well ... yes."Alec and I stare at each other. We definitely did not see that coming."I'm sorry I didn't tell you before," Damon says. "It's not exactly something you share with everyone you come across. And then I saw you both do those amazing things ..." His eyes widen, and he smiles big."We thought you'd left," is all I can think to say.His face falls. "No. I'm sorry if it looked that way. I snuck off to shift. I thought, maybe if I did it in secret, then I could change back, and you wouldn't know it was me, and ..." He rubs the back of his head and looks away.I'm still having trouble finding words. Damon is like us! Well, not one hundred percent, since Alec is a vampire, and I'm a ... something.But he's close enough."Thank you." My eyes fill with tears. "Thank you for saving us."He nods. "I wouldn't leave."Alec clears his throat. "Were you going to tell us?"I glower at him. "W
Last Updated : 2023-06-14Matched (Mortal, Book Three) CHAPTER NINETEEN
Nora"Everyone, stay away from the windows." I shut the blinds on one of them."Aren't you gonna lock the door?" one of the students, a tiny girl, asks."That won't do anything against magic," I tell her.She literally trembles with fear, her eyes going wide. I feel bad for scaring her. God only knows what she and these other students have already been through."How long will we be here for?" The tall girl with dark hair, Heather, puts her hands on her hips and stares me down. "I need to get in touch with my parents," she demands.She's a firecracker, this one. I respect her a bit for it, but she's also extremely annoying. And she could be a problem. I can already tell she doesn't have much respect for others. If she has an opportunity to do things her way, she will."Trust me," I tell her. "We're trying to find all your parents."One of the kids sniffles and starts crying. I wish I could comfort them, but the truth is we haven't got a clue where all their parents are. Someth
Last Updated : 2023-06-14
Latest chapter
Matched (Mortal, Book Three) CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Winter"What?" Alec whirls around and stands, and I hear the pop of his fangs emerging.I can't even find the words. What I'm seeing is so strange, so unexpected. Everything we've come across so far in this pocket dimension falls in the land of natural. This is so obviously man made."That." I point.The fog has thinned, and across the bluff, a silver obelisk shines under the moonlight, its four sides coming to a pointy peek. Right above it, a bright star shines down, illuminating its top. It’s hard to tell how far away it is, or even how tall it is. It looks massive, though."Oh." Alec's fangs retract.I stand and stare at it alongside him. "Yeah."We're quiet for a moment, only the whisper of the wind filling the space. It almost feels like our kiss never happened, like it was nothing more than a dream.But it was real, wasn't it? I can still feel the heat of Alec's lips pressed against mine.And I want more.Not that my desire means anything. Alec is so hesitant. There h
Matched (Mortal, Book Three) CHAPTER TWO
WinterReflexively, I jump back. Alec bats at the animal, but he misses. The critter lands on the ground and makes a gurgling noise, almost like it's trying to talk."What ..." My jaw drops. "What is that?"It's not any animal I've ever seen. In fact, it's not an animal at all, is it? It looks more like it would fit in at Dyad Marketplace than the woods."It looks like a tiny goblin." Alec bends to study it but still keeps his distance.The tiny creature is gray green, with a face far too wide for its body. Its eyes are black as coal, and its hands and feet are large and round like a baby's, with long, delicate fingers and toes. It doesn't stand more than a foot tall."It might be a creature native to this pocket dimension," Alec says, eyeing the goblin warily.The creature starts to move towards us, and I take a step back. "Should we ... should we try to communicate with it?""I don't know," Alec says. "It could be dangerous."But the goblin doesn't seem aggressive. It's st
Matched (Mortal, Book Three) CHAPTER FIVE
Winter"Hey," the monster says.My jaw drops, and the monster—whatever it is—removes a mask. Because it's not a monster at all. It's a human.A boy, really. No, a young man. Maybe five or so years older than me and Alec, in his early twenties. He's tall, with dark blond hair, and he has a backpack slung over his shoulder.I slowly stand. "Uh ... Hi."Alec whirls around, tensing, ready to fight.The guy raises his hands and stops walking. "Easy. I'm not looking for trouble. Sorry if I freaked you out.” He raises the mask, which I now see is made out of leaves and bark. “This helps avoid some of the creatures out here.”“Some of them?” I squeak. Just how many creatures are there?“I heard the kobolds making all that noise, and I thought they were attacking someone.""Kobolds?" I ask.He shrugs, his hands still up. "That's what I call them.""Same thing as goblins." Alec is still watching the guy. "Who are you?""Damon Aldridge." He offers his hand for a shake, but Alec do
Matched (Mortal, Book Three) CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Finnegan"Move, fool." I prod Ted in his back. "Are you just going to stand there?"He hesitates, like a frozen child. "I don't know which way to go now."I sigh in annoyance. The path in the lava is unpredictable. There must be some sort of mathematical equation that's running it, but we didn't have time to stand around and wait to figure the pattern out.Which is why I sent one person ahead. The rest of the team—myself included—is standing in the grass while Ted scouts a way across the lava, which is sometimes solid and sometimes not."You'll be fine," I tell him.He's nearly shaking in his armor, though. I thought I'd picked the best team for this mission, but apparently, I made at least one mistake.A lot of the Silver Hunters are soft. They work normal nine to five jobs, spending their nights in Hunter chat rooms on the dark web and volunteering their vacation time to the cause. They show up at the trainings and meetings, and though they have a passion to eradicate sups,
Matched (Mortal, Book Three) CHAPTER FOUR
WinterAlec and I run like hell through the woods, branches slapping at our faces and grabbing at our pants. At this point, I can't count the number of times we've run for our lives.I just know that I always hope each time will be the last.The tiny goblins yip and cackle behind us, their calls weaving through the night."I'm sorry," I gasp as Alec and I scramble up a hill. "I thought he was nice.""Remember what I said about when things look too good to be true?"If we weren't running away from evil little goblins right now, I'd probably have a comeback or two. We don't have time to bicker, though."We can't outrun them." He grabs my hand and hauls me beside him, and we sprint through the tree line and back to the wide-open area with the thick grass.I glance over my shoulder and instantly wish I hadn't. There has to be thirty or forty little monsters chasing us now. One of them is leading the charge, twenty or so yards ahead of the others.Curling my hands, I reach into m
Matched (Mortal, Book Three) CHAPTER NINETEEN
Nora"Everyone, stay away from the windows." I shut the blinds on one of them."Aren't you gonna lock the door?" one of the students, a tiny girl, asks."That won't do anything against magic," I tell her.She literally trembles with fear, her eyes going wide. I feel bad for scaring her. God only knows what she and these other students have already been through."How long will we be here for?" The tall girl with dark hair, Heather, puts her hands on her hips and stares me down. "I need to get in touch with my parents," she demands.She's a firecracker, this one. I respect her a bit for it, but she's also extremely annoying. And she could be a problem. I can already tell she doesn't have much respect for others. If she has an opportunity to do things her way, she will."Trust me," I tell her. "We're trying to find all your parents."One of the kids sniffles and starts crying. I wish I could comfort them, but the truth is we haven't got a clue where all their parents are. Someth
Matched (Mortal, Book Three) CHAPTER TEN
Winter"You're a werewolf?" Alec blurts out.A sheepish look crosses Damon's face. "Well ... yes."Alec and I stare at each other. We definitely did not see that coming."I'm sorry I didn't tell you before," Damon says. "It's not exactly something you share with everyone you come across. And then I saw you both do those amazing things ..." His eyes widen, and he smiles big."We thought you'd left," is all I can think to say.His face falls. "No. I'm sorry if it looked that way. I snuck off to shift. I thought, maybe if I did it in secret, then I could change back, and you wouldn't know it was me, and ..." He rubs the back of his head and looks away.I'm still having trouble finding words. Damon is like us! Well, not one hundred percent, since Alec is a vampire, and I'm a ... something.But he's close enough."Thank you." My eyes fill with tears. "Thank you for saving us."He nods. "I wouldn't leave."Alec clears his throat. "Were you going to tell us?"I glower at him. "W
Matched (Mortal, Book Three) CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Alec"Get down," I hiss at Damon and Winter.The three of us drop to the platform, pressing ourselves flat against it so that the Silver Hunters can't see us."How did they find the lighthouse?" Winter whispers.I shake my head. "Same way we did?""They look like bad news." Damon chews his bottom lip. "Okay, we need a plan.""Hold on." I hold a finger to my lips and tune into my heightened hearing. I can just make out what the Silver Hunters are saying."Maybe the tower tossed them down here," a man says. He must be referring to Hank and Elena's bodies. "Another spell or trick.""Or not," a woman says."This whole place is crawling with beasts,” a second man chimes in. “I tell you what. I won’t be an experiment like Ted was. I’m not the first to climb those steps.”“You’ll follow your orders,” the woman growls. “That’s what you’ll do.”I glance back at Damon and Winter, who are staring at me expectantly. “They think there’s something else here besides us. Something dangero
Matched (Mortal, Book Three) CHAPTER FIFTEEN
AlecI barrel into Winter, shoving her out of the way. We both land hard on the ground, my forearms breaking my fall and her landing on her side. The pebbles rain down behind us, their impact on the ground making booms that rattle the canyon.Elena, Hank, and Damon stare at us with dropped jaws."Don't move, anyone." I carefully sit up.Winter is frozen, her brow furrowed. "What happened?""You almost got hit by some pebbles. Remember what they're like here? How heavy they are?""Oh, yeah." She shakes her head, and I can tell she's disappointed in herself. "I wasn't thinking.""It's okay." I offer her my hand. The moment she slips her palm into it, it’s like the rest of the world disappears.I pull her to standing, and she blinks at me. Heat spreads through me. I want to pull her closer, to press my lips to hers, to hold her tight until the end of time.Instead, I just stand there like a dummy."Glad you're okay." I release her hand and look away, but not before I see the d
