XAVIERRalph and I had journeyed to the barracks to question the guards on the matter of Dowson. It was unacceptable to know that someone in our watch had turned a blind eye to such an important subject.Ralph had gathered them all into a line, and he was approaching each one individually. Looking them in the eye and asking, “What do you know Dowson’s death? Where were you when it happened? Did you see anything suspicious?”One by one, they insisted they knew nothing. And one by one, they seemed to be growing more nervous, more agitated by the interrogation.Amidst our questioning, the room erupted in accusations.“Oh, whoever knows something just say it!”“It wasn’t me! I wasn’t stationed at the time.”“Daniel certainly had reason to use the bathroom quite often.”“Shut up, Garett! It wasn’t me, either! I simply had an upset stomach.”Their shouts erupted into a loud raucous, and Ralph brought the room to a sudden halt. There was a way about Ralph that could strike fear into the hear
XAVIERWe moved swiftly, though the ride would be much longer avoiding the main streets of Oreheroad.We needed to stay inconspicuous. We needed to move like shadows among the city. Which, to Ralph, meant cutting through alleyways and creeping through residential districts., weaving our horses past food carts and pedestrians.The house of Duff was located in the Southeastern quarters of Orheroad. And as the city opened before us, I could not help but wonder why he had not attended the festivities. It was, after all, Reuben’s natural inclination to party. But I was not complaining. It was more convenient, being that he was far from the palace. Far from Caeser’s men.We had driven in a simple carriage, so as not to alert him of our presence, and I was quickly growing tired of the bumps and knocks in the road. Though cars were plentiful in the city, the palace did not own any relative to that of a commoner, or even a noble. Ours were distinct. Vehicles of high regard that could only be d
VALERIE That night, I dreamt of a woman with green eyes. At first, I thought I was seeing myself. But there were certain differences in our faces. Things that I could pick apart in detail if I looked at her long enough. She was a few years older, her eyes far lighter. And her belly bulged, large and telling as she ran through the brambles of a thick and endless forest. Yapping came from behind her. A sound that took me back to the night of the raid. I knew that sound better than anyone. It had not left my thoughts in years. The woman stumbled through the thickets. She ran, clutching onto trees with one hand and her belly with the other. She could not move fast with a child in her womb, and as she turned back, a trio of werewolves dashed through the slats in the trees. They were large. The size of horses, at least. And they were close on her tail. Still, she ran. As quickly as her legs would take her. She ran until pain twinged on her face and she felt her legs give. And even aft
VALERIE The next day, Xavier took me to his study. And she was there. I walked in and at the sight of her, it was like all the air was knocked from my lungs. Staring at Ava felt like a dream. It was her. I knew it was her. And she seemed to recognize me as well. If I had been holding anything at the moment, I would have dropped it. But instead I just froze there, staring at her. Wondering if I’d ever actually woken that morning, or if I was still steadily dreaming. And when I realized this was no dream at all, my heart quickened in my chest. “V-Valerie,” Ava mumbled, her eyes wide, her mouth parted. We did nothing but stand there, facing one another for a long while. Then tears hit my eyes. I stumbled to her, my legs numb beneath me, and wrapped her in my arms. We nearly went to the floor together, my knees buckling under me and Ava too weak to hold my weight. I hugged her tightly—too tightly, because Ava let out a groan. I released, feeling the high-risen skin on her back.
CAESAR Xavier’s response might have been prompt. And perhaps I had underestimated him. But I was a man who liked to stay ahead of the curb. Two-steps ahead, if I was being honest. I had arranged a safe haven for the wizard—an old family home of mine. It was once known as the House of Murphy before I married the Alpha’s daughter and took my crown. But now the grand mansion stood there lonely and decaying. It had once been a beautiful marvel among the city, and now it was beginning to crumble, overtaken by vines and shrubbery. No one was left to use it after all. Besides me. Occasionally—at any usual time—the maids would be sent to keep the house in order. The rooms would need dusting in the case of once-yearly visit, and any vermin would need to be eradicated. But apart from them, it was entirely abandoned, and therefor…the perfect place to stow away a fugitive. In addition, the mating season was still in full effect. Every ounce of attention in Oreheroad was on the mating season,
XAVIERThe end of the festival was fast approaching, and Ares was a wild, insatiable thing within me.Are you really going to do it? he was asking, pleading, snarling. Are you really going to let her go? We will never see her again. The others will not be like her. Keep her. Keep her. I can not.Then you should have never brought that poor human girl back. You should have never fulfilled your mission. Our mate leaves us now. Our mate leaves us. There is nothing I can do. It is her freedom to leave.Mark her, Ares howled. Mark her so you may find her and take her back.I pressed Ares’s voice to the back of my mind, bringing myself into focus. I was already distracted enough with thoughts of Valerie. He was making it twice as difficult to be productive in my search for the wizard.A handful of councilors were gathered in front of me, their heads bowed. Their body language was tense, their expressions wrought with fear.They did not ease. And they should not have. They were all in a gr
VALERIEAva’s recovery was surprisingly fast.I was relieved to see her in full health when she awoke that morning. She greeted me with her usual glowing face and her cheerful voice. A peppy, “Hello, Valerie!” touched my ears like music.I had been so worried that she’d had the potion. That she’d wound up like a mindless, soulless shell, just as the others had. But she seemed…relatively normal. Perhaps not the Ava I knew, but a fragment of her.We sat over breakfast and I recanted everything to her. Every single little event that had led up to this moment. From that miraculous day in the shop when Xavier stumbled upon me. From the moment he took me to the castle and every event that transpired after.I left out some details, of course. The romance between Xavier and I, my moment with Lucas. All of the fine, gritty details that brought a warmth to my cheeks. Another time, perhaps, I would tell her. After the dust settled and things went back to normal.Ava was strangely quiet as I spok
VALERIE The longer I stayed with Ava, the more obvious it became that she wasn’t the same as she used to be. Every time we spoke, she was becoming more of a stranger. Less of Ava. She seemed to have forgotten most of the time we’d spent together in the shop. Vague things came back to her now and then—the day her master purchased her. The view of the market district from the pane glass windows. But not much else. And though she remembered who I was, she didn’t remember Aunt Louise and Aunt Rita. She couldn’t name a single girl from the shop, and she didn’t seem to recall the talks we used to have, either. I didn’t sleep well that night. I dreamed instead…the strangest dreams. I dreamed of wild, vivid forests and the air billowing against my skin. I dreamed of running and running until my feet lost all feeling. I did not know why I dreamed such strange things, but I didn’t mind it either. I could taste the earthy scent of the forest around me. I could feel my heart thundering in my ch