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NINETY-TWO | GLORY
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2020-10-24 05:59:30It was dark by the time we’d finished negotiating.
“It’s not safe,” I’d sighed, over and over.
“You’ll be safer with me there,” he’d argued – in that gentle, nudging way of his – and eventually I’d relented. I couldn’t resist his sweet face – especially those golden eyes fringed with thick, dash lashes, watching me with nothing but tenderness in their gaze.
Hand in hand, we strode out to the woods together. The dusk was soft above us, a blurred purple that twinkled with stars. It seemed that, at long last, the rain had stopped. I was glad of the dry spell – not only did it make the sky prettier, after days of grey mist broken only by the evergreen arms of the pine trees, but it was also warmer. The idea of being soaking wet in the cool autumn air was far more deplorable than the idea of being cold but dry. The mere thought of it mad
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Entering my room with Skye by my side felt strangely intimate, although it wasn’t the first time he’d seen it. It was as though I’d been stripped bare tonight, and he was seeing me with fresh eyes. Every brushing touch sent shudders rippling through me, and I longed to slide under the duvet with him, to be shrouded in his warmth as we fell asleep together.“I guess we don’t need this anymore,” I grinned, nodding at the spell bag on my bedside table. “It’s all out in the open, now.”“It’s a nice feeling, isn’t it?” Skye smiled back, but it didn’t reach his eyes. I watched him worriedly as he toyed with his fingers, standing uncomfortably in the centre of the room.“It is,” I hummed, kicking off my boots. “But – are you okay?”“Yeah,” he croaked, and then, to my great dismay, a
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I woke up warm and content, as the bright beams of sunlight slanted through the window and drew me from my dream. It was early – the first rays of dawn – and I closed my eyes again, snuggling into the warm spot beside me. I reached out to wind my arm around Skye, and froze when my hand touched empty bed sheets beside me.“Skye?” I mumbled, facedown on my pillow. With a sigh, I brushed my tangled hair out of my face and sat up. I looked around my room blearily.Skye was nowhere to be seen.I scrubbed at my eyes. I’d fallen asleep with my makeup on – tumbling into bed with Skye had been nothing short of magical, and following the proper bedtime procedure had been the farthest thing from my mind as we’d cuddled close and fallen asleep – but my eyes felt sore and heavy as a result.“Skye?” I tried again. I tucked my hair behind my ears and
Last Updated : 2020-10-25She Runs with Wolves NINETY-FIVE | MAZE
“I can’t believe it,” I hissed at Rowan.She shrugged her shoulders at me. “Me neither.”Molly glared at us. She was fat, her heart shaped face framed neatly by her shoulder-length blonde hair. Her rosebud lips curled into a scowl as I opened my mouth, and immediately shut it again. “Sorry, I didn’t realise our meeting was interrupting,” she snapped. “Anything you’d like to share with the group?”Rowan rolled her eyes. “No, Mols. Sorry.”I hadn’t realised how seriously a group of high school students would take planning a Halloween maze. We were in one of the spare classrooms at the far end of the campus, and it smelt like dust and damp mould. I’d spent the majority of the meeting wrinkling my nose at it, as had Kathrena and Skye, too. For her part, Rowan seemed blissfully unaware of the stench, but she wa
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“Oh my God,” I whispered.“And look, underneath the words,” Skye muttered. He himself was no longer looking into the cargo bed; he had covered his eyes with his one hand, the other clutching at my forearm as though without it he would fall into the darkness.Beneath the word fail, as though it was underlining it, a single, shining raven feather had been placed. It gleamed like an oil spill beneath the too-white torchlight, rippling with purples and greens and glistening like undisturbed water.“Quoth the raven,” I murmured, “’Nevermore’.”“You – you think that’s what it means?” Skye murmured, peeping at me with one eye.“I think we should get out of here,” I said. “You’re coming in the front. Let’s go.”It was a tight squeeze &ndash
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“But a demon wouldn’t do something like this, would it?” Rowan whispered. “It’s too – too thought out, too calculated.”“This raven might just be road kill. It might not be connected to the feather…” I said, though I trailed off, uncertainty gnawing at me. I’d never seen a bird get hit by a car before.“Or maybe you were right earlier, El, and it’s the outcome of another signalling spell,” Kathrena suggested, though she didn’t sound too convinced, either.“We should just go. Right?” I said, looking around desperately. The poor bird was clearly dead – its glassy eye had been staring at us for minutes now, and it hadn’t blinked or so much as twitched a feather“I guess so,” Skye mumbled, his hand snaking its way into mine. “It feels wrong to just leave it ther
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Grandma Rosie came bustling in moments later with an overflowing tray. It was stacked high with biscuits and mugs, and there was a huge patterned teapot in its centre. She wobbled beneath its weight, and Skye leapt up to steady her.“Thank you, dear,” she muttered, patting his arm as he took it from her. “It’s a herbal blend, of course – basil, black pepper, rosemary, dill – oh! And some salt, and a squirt of lime juice, too. All of which are potent protectors against dark forces, forces of evil.”I wrinkled my nose. “It’s a shame Kathrena and I can’t have any,” I said, half-jokingly.“Not to worry, dear,” Grandma Rosie said, pushing aside the mugs and the biscuits, rummaging around, I assumed, for something else. “I’ve made you both a sachet to carry with you – at all times.”“T
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It was only after we’d left that I realised I had, yet again, forgotten to ask either Herb or Grandma Rosie for more information about the fox. I supposed that, for now, it wasn’t high on our list of priorities.The sense of foreboding was less heavy in the air as we crossed the herb garden, picking our way quickly through the dark. The little solar lamps glowed like moonshine amongst the bushes, but they did little to light our path. Not that any of us needed the light to see – it was a comfort more than a tool of use.Once we were securely seated and belted in to my truck, Skye – from his position in the driver’s seat – gave me a gentle nudge. “Earlier,” he said, “you mentioned that creepy old poem. I don’t know what it means – I’ve never read the whole thing, I just recognised that one line.”“What poem?” Kathrena asked.
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Last Updated : 2020-10-30
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Skye let out a tiny, defeated sigh, but then he pushed through his disappointment and stepped closer, peering into the window beside me. “Are you sure they haven’t just changed the display around?”“The display is the same.” I groaned, banging my head against his arm. We were being careful not to say what we were looking for out loud – there could be ears anywhere – but I’d been so pent up all day, so focused, and it felt as though our plan had fallen flat before we’d even had a chance to start.“Hey, don’t do that,” Skye murmured, prying my chin off his shoulder. “You almost went through a window yesterday.”I shrugged. “It’s pretty much healed now. But – thank you for being concerned. It’s sweet. I like that you forget what I am, sometimes.” I gave him a tiny smile, and he pressed a kiss to my forehead, rig
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