She reached out her shaking fingers to my face. Lifting the hem of my gown, I kneeled on the floor in front of her wheelchair. I shut my eyes as her fingers traced every line on my face. The ringing silence prevailed. Her hand trailed down my face, over my chest. My heart pounded beneath the war
[Xanthea] “When did they start teaching about diseases of the immortals in the mortal world?” Lady Alessia asked. “Why would mortals teach about immortals? How would they even know anything about us? They only make it to our packs once they are dead,” Lady Letitia said. Then she glanced at me and
In case TTA affects the heart, the body below the neck starts to age like a mortal and it shows the same complications as a mortal in old age might face. So, it often causes difficulty for the guts to digest and absorb the right nutrients from the medicines. It is prescribed to enforce concentrated
“Six pods of funungus, three leaves of hetrotia, nine seeds of jixum, four petals of morarentha, dried roots of wild venus…” I recited the complete process of creating the prescribed concoction for TTA. Everyone peered at me blankly in a silence interrupted only by the High lady’s deteriorating con
[Xanthea] I watched the Aile castle become clearer and clearer in the side-view mirror of Nesryn’s car the farther we drove away from it. Yet its sprawling grandness couldn’t be captured in one frame. The royal castle was the perfection of Baroque architecture, rising majestically to the extreme
We entered the precinct of the Pheles palace, which was named after Raven’s demon wolf’s name — Pheles. It was yet another wonder of architecture standing in the middle of blooming gardens, glowing greenhouses and dark woods. A dense mist hung heavily around the palace and the woods. Flora and faun
[Xanthea] Nesryn called someone while I stayed in the foyer. Standing by the intricately designed arched window, I peered outside. My brain identified as many plants and herbs as it could, matching the details and sketches I had seen in my mother’s books and diaries. But there were still a lot mor
I had left behind all the impossible dreams like being free in the Earthly realm. I no longer had a dream I yearned to pursue, not even freedom. Maybe there was only one thing I looked forward to and feared at the same time — death. He stepped closer. “I can help you get out—” “Beta Draknor!” Nesr
There were glimpses and unfinished sentences. Lifeless body of a child, probably a weak blood.‘Another disappointm—’Peeled skin. Severed muscles.‘Burn him, prepare the other—’Eyeballs leaking from the eye sockets. People struggling as her helpers stuffed clothes in their mouth to muffle their gr
Experimenting on living subjects thrilled her. It was all fun for her. It was astonishing how she remained utterly undisturbed by it all. She justified every action with the belief that it was for the advancement of healing and immortality.‘Thank you for your contribution,’ she would say to each te
‘And that is why they will be punished as well,’ Alpha Caelum replied coldly. ‘As for you, you are hereby expelled from the Solvaris pack — and the Celestial realm.’My mother looked devastated, but she didn’t plead for mercy.‘I accept,’ she said brazenly as she strutted out of the court.With a sl
[Xanthea]I stared at Asher, my chest tightening as his words echoed in the air, heavy and inescapable. My mind scrambled to process what he had just said.“No.” The word slipped out, trembling and frail. “That’s not… It’s not possible.”Asher’s gaze remained distant. There was a cruel pity in the w
I shook my head, tears streaming down my eyes incessantly.I wanted to deny it all, forget it all, but even a fleeting glimpse was enough to carve it into my memory forever. The horrors I had already witnessed sent shivers through my body, and just the thought of what more might lie ahead filled me
Even so, I could neither wake up nor save myself. I had been buried in a grave of my mother’s memories in the middle of nowhere. Some of them were so horrifying, for a second I thought I was losing my mind.I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t understand. I was suffocating, but I knew that even death woul
[Xanthea]‘May you find my guilt at the right time and may it save you from your own. May you find answers to all your questions in my memories and I hope you hate me a little less.’A woman’s voice echoed in the back of my mind, weaving through the symphony of shattering glass when my eyes locked w
Ezra staggered backward. His gaze flickered toward her one last time before we lost him.The next few minutes felt to have slowed and stretched into hours.With every shuffle of feet and the soldier’s attempt to minimize damage, chaos rose like doom.I glanced towards the door, opening it up. Nesryn
Ezra clenched his jaws while his expression flickered — anguish broke through the hardened lines of his face. His eyes, pained and bleary, betrayed all his senses.Unable to summon words or reason, Ezra stepped forward and pulled her into his arms.“I can’t…” His voice cracked, unguarded. “Please, d