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
[Raven] I looked at my phone screen as I drove into the private driveway to my palace. Through a spare guardian butterfly, I had been monitoring the omega while she interacted with Draknor and Nesryn. I knew Nesryn had a history with Draknor, but she had just met the omega. Why the hell was she b
She reached out to snap the vines off her ankles that had started sprawling up her legs like dendritic veins. There you go. My months of hard work going down the drain just like that! I swear this omega is going to pay for every damage she does to my X23. The blueness crept up her legs with the vi
[Xanthea] An icy sensation crawled up my leg. The din of my breaths and my heartbeats faltered in my ears as the sound of rustling grass, as if a serpent hastily slithered through them. I stood barefoot on the dewy grass, aware of every stir in the surrounding underbrush. Cold fog condensed on my
Silence hung in the room, and for a while, even Mavka stopped rubbing the ice on my leg. Gulping hard, I fidgeted with my fingers, still feeling the burn from the poison in my leg. “Like you said, the plant was important to Alpha Raven. He loves his plants like his child. He cares about them more t
[Xanthea] Just the thought of it made me break into cold sweat even when I was submerged in a fragrant bath. Mavka and a few other maids prepared me for the night while neither my body nor my heart nor my mind were ready for it. As the time of their arrival drew nearer, my anxiousness grew louder
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