He nods and pulls up the article on his phone before sliding it across his desk and in my direction. I take a deep breath before grabbing his phone and looking at the article.Sure enough, front and center is a blown-up picture of Zach and me kissing. It looked like a very intimate moment when in re
Carol’s POV“Listen up everybody!” Coach Bower says after practice concluded for the evening. We are seated in the locker room, gathering around to hear what he has to say. We didn’t discuss this beforehand, so I’m not sure what he wants to say. Mr. Whitlock stood by his office door with his arms cr
“I love you,” he said, kissing my temple gently.I blush at his words.“I love you too,” I say in return, and I truly meant those words.We arrive at the banquet 20 minutes later and as soon as Jarrod parks in front of the building, my mouth falls open at the amount of people waiting to get inside.
Carol’s POV“What are they even doing here?” I ask, turning to face Aiden.“I don’t know,” Aiden says, his eyes never leaving Daniel. Neither of them notices us yet, which I’m grateful for. If all goes well, neither will notice us the entire time. “I thought she got fired?”“Technically she was forc
“Thank you for your faith in me, Mr. Whitlock. This is honestly amazing, and I couldn’t have done it without the entire team.”He looks around and then his eyes return to me.“I think now is a good time to make a space for everyone,” he says. I nod and without him asking, I go to the entertainer wh
Carol’s POV I stare at them in disbelief. Sophia is wrapped around Coach Bower’s arm, and she is batting her long lashes up at him. What kind of game is she playing right now? I look at Aiden who is just as confused if not more. “Coach, are you feeling okay?” Aiden asks, narrowing his eyes at hi
Daniel beamed at the man as they shook hands and when they said goodbye and parted ways, Daniel’s attention turned to me. I can’t help the scowl on my face as our eyes lock. I don’t mean to scowl as I do, but it just kind of came out. Daniel doesn’t seem to notice though; or if he does, he doesn’t
Carol’s POV “Are you kidding me, Daniel?! How dare you throw me under the bus like this when this was your idea in the first place!” Sophia growled, fury rolling off her in waves. Coach Bower drops his hand from around her waist and takes a step back. “What is he talking about, Sophia?” Coach
I chuckled as I held back tears.“Sorry,” I murmured, trying to pull back, but she held me tighter.“I’ve missed you like crazy,” she breathed. “How’s life in the empire? I’ve been keeping tabs on you in the media. Seems you are kicking ass as the queen.”Since the inauguration ceremony last year, I
She flinched away for a moment, afraid that the darkness might hurt him, but I had faith that it wouldn’t because it was under her control now and the light in her wouldn’t be dim for the darkness.“It’s okay,” I assured her, bringing Caleb even closer into her view. She stared at him with admiratio
EpilogueAiden’s POV“She still won’t come out of her room?” Fiona asked, staring at the closed suite door with a frown. “It’s been a week since she killed her sister…”“She’s scared,” I told her, cradling Caleb in my arms. “Raelyn’s darkness is inside of her and she’s worried that she’s going to do
She was quiet for a moment while the Queen continued to bark orders in the background. The dark tendrils only seemed to grow more agitated with each passing moment.“Please, call the tendrils off and—”“I can’t,” she said quickly. “They don’t listen to me anymore… they listen to her more than they l
I wanted to believe that there was still good in Raelyn. That the darkness hadn’t taken over completely. I grabbed her arm, and I brought my gaze to meet hers; I wasn’t sure if my powers would work on her, but I had to try. I channeled her mind and when I found a connection, I realized it was weak,
Carol’s POVI used my powers to fight off the guards, using my mind manipulation to make them fight one another and using some of the spells I was taught to ward them off. I’ve practiced with mind manipulation a lot so I was able to do it quickly. I soon had some of them at least turning against the
“It’s not personal darling,” she said, waving off his concern. “It’s strictly business.”“Was any of it real?” He asked, shaking his head with disgust written all over his face. “Did you ever love me?”She let out a bitter laugh.“Love?” She scoffed. “Please… There’s no room for love when I have a n
My entire body went cold when I saw what they were running from. Clouds of darkness snaked through the ground, slithering like snakes. I could feel the cold darkness and the chilling aura that penetrated it.In the distance, I squinted at the figures standing in the center of the town.The Queen.St
Carol’s POV“You promised you’d help me buy a ring for Fiona,” Oliver said as he leaned against the doorframe of my suite. I had just finished changing Caleb’s dirty typer for the 5(th) time this hour when Oliver decided to bless me with his visit.Collectively, we’ve been in the Empire for 2 months