Nina My breaths came out in short puffs of humid air as we trudged through the thick forest. All around us, the vibrant sounds of the night life seemed to come alive; frogs, insects, nocturnal birds. Now that the hyenas had quieted down, the other creatures had come back out to play. “My feet ar
“Where are we?” My sudden voice caused both Enzo and Daphne to jump. Realizing that I had just awoken, Enzo gently set me down. My legs were shaking, and the pain was still almost unbearable, but at least I could stand on my own two feet. “Looks like there’s a village up there,” Enzo explained.
Nina The morning sun came too soon. None of us slept for more than a few minutes. Either we were too frightened and just didn’t want to admit it, or our minds were whirling with too many possibilities. I spent the remaining hours of the nighttime laid out on the mattress, letting the shaman’s me
My words were met with abject silence. Daphne and Enzo looked back and forth between me and each other, completely taken aback by my insane suggestion. “Please.” I looked up at Enzo as tears began to mist over my eyes. “You know we can’t leave him anyway. It’s not… it’s not right.” Enzo stared a
Nina The very idea of tunnels made me feel claustrophobic. After what Edward had done to me beneath Mountainview, I couldn’t even begin to fathom willingly going into any kind of tunnels. Ever. And yet, here I was, bravely marching into a cave in search of my friend. What could be a more noble
Nina “I knew you would come back for your little friend.” The cold, sharp points of the spears pressed against our backs felt like nothing compared to the bite of Mila’s words. God, I felt like a stupid little child in that moment. We had walked straight into a trap. A rather obvious one, at tha
“Well then,” Mila said with a self-satisfied sigh. “I suppose there’s no use in more theatrics. You two will be returned to your chambers to begin the memory extraction process, and the undead boy here…” She paused, tapping her chin thoughtfully. “I think I’ll keep him, actually. After a bit of reed
Nina The first thing I felt was the sensation of soft carpet on my cheek. Then, I felt hands on me, lifting me up to a sitting position. The third thing I noticed were faces: Enzo, Luke, my mother and my brother. “Nina?” Enzo murmured. “Nina, are you okay?” I nodded stiffly, although my throat
Nina The warm summer breeze brushed across my skin as I stood on the patio, clutching my robe tightly around my body. Laughter and splashes echoed up from the pool below, where our friends were already gathered for our big end-of-summer party. I should have been down there too, soaking up the ve
“What... what do you mean?” He braced his hands on the doorframe, leaning in closer with a heavy sigh. “I mean, by the time I caught up to them this morning, I only saw them long enough to get that photo before they were boarding a speedboat and taking off. Hell, I’m still not even totally sure wh
Nina My breath caught in my throat as I pulled open the front door expecting to see excited party guests, only to be immediately met with the sight of Luke’s grim expression. His brow was furrowed in a deep frown, his lips pressed into a tight line—clear signs that something was very wrong. “Luk
Nina I huffed out a breath as I hoisted the oversized cardboard box higher in my arms, carefully navigating my way through the living room. Strings of fairy lights poked out haphazardly from the top, and I could feel the weight of glass jars and other assorted decor inside shifting precariously wi
Then, at the last possible second, the scout seemed to find an extra burst of speed. He surged forward, hurtling between two towering oak trees and vanishing into the cover of the forest beyond. “Dammit!” I slammed my palms against the rough bark of the nearest trunk, powerless to do anything but
Enzo The crunch of leaves and snap of twigs echoed through the trees as Matt and I tore after the Schreiber scout. Our breaths came in ragged gasps, the hot summer air burning our lungs. Overhead, a little red bird chirped and flitted through the green canopy of trees; Daphne. But even she wasn’
Shaking my head, I turned without another word and stormed out of the fitting room. I took the two strides across the hall to Jessica’s fitting room and knocked on the door, folding my arms across my chest. “Jess? You in there?” There was a muffled thump in the fitting room, followed by the soun
Nina “How’s it looking in there?” I called out, rapping lightly on the wooden door of Jessica’s fitting room. “Um… decent, I guess?” her muffled voice floated back a moment later, although I could sense the uncertainty in her tone. “Decent? That’s it? Come on, Jess, this is your wedding gown w
Had I really known him at all, I wondered? Or had I merely been too self-absorbed and naive to see past the facade of unshakable command he projected? After a long silence, I found my voice. “Why didn’t he ever tell me that?” “He didn’t want you to see his weakness, I suppose,” Angelica replied