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THIRTY-ONE | LOST
I stared at him, my body frozen and my mind transfixed. What was he doing here?
“Ellis?” I realised that David was speaking, and I moved slowly, as if through melted toffee, to look at him. I could just see the Skye-shaped shadow below in my peripheral vision, and I struggled to focus on David’s face.
“Sorry,” I mumbled. He was smiling at me, warm and bright, if a little timid, and I shook myself.
“Did my story scare you?” He frowned. I scrambled desperately to remember what we’d been talking about, and my eyes shot open.
“Oh! No, no. Sorry,” I said again. “I just – I need to stretch my legs. Mind if I walk the perimeter?”
“That’s fine,” he said, very slowly. His eyes appraised me, but they were no longer fathomless. Now they were closed off, and my chest ached as I reco
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She Runs with Wolves THIRTY-TWO | PYRE
The flames and smoke rose into the sky, red and orange and black and grey rolling in waves across the dawn. The sunrise behind was cast out, soft apricot and purple bleeding into obscurity as the fire crackled.David’s body was in the fire, somewhere. I didn’t look too closely.Most of the Clan were stood around the pyre, their eyes down and their mouths in sombre, thin lines. Falmer was nowhere to be seen, but that was nothing unusual; he frequented the bar in town, especially since we’d been on a diet of animal blood. He could, more often than not, find willing donors in the women he met.The only other person missing was Kathrena. Her absence, however, had raised a lot of eyebrows, and had elicited a few startled mumbles and narrowed eyes.I couldn’t bring myself to care where she was. David was dead, and it was my fault. I’d checked for his pulse, two fingers feeling
She Runs with Wolves THIRTY-THREE | SILVER
After the fire had died down, and we had all said our last farewells to David, I’d trudged up the curling stairs to my room. I hardly had the energy to put one foot in front of the other, let alone go to school.Aradia had given me one look, and immediately had offered to call Aspen High’s office for me. I felt bad, with everything she had to deal with, but I couldn’t face a day of sitting beneath those too-bright fluorescent lights, trying to pay attention, and then, worst of all, having to talk to people. Because it wasn’t actual talking, not really; nobody at school knew me, not beyond the pretence, the façade, the part that I played for them. And, because of that, I didn’t really know them, either.I told myself that that was why I was shrugging off my wet clothes and climbing into bed, when the truth was, in fact, much simpler. It could be boiled down to one word, and one word alone: D
She Runs with Wolves THIRTY-FOUR | A STRING AND A PETAL
I smiled to myself as I hung up the phone. Skye’s voice had begun to trail off, and his words had been peppered with yawns, so I’d let him go. I’d slept through the entire day, and I needed to get up, to stretch, and to hunt.I luxuriated in the feel of my warm sheets for a minute, sprawling my legs out beneath the duvet. My mouth felt heavy, swollen, and there was a familiar ache in my throat. The sun had dipped away, leaving darkness in its wake.The only light in my room came from the flat, blue-tinted hue of my phone screen, and it made everything look creepier than if there had been no light at all. It was ghostly, shining off the edges of my desk and bedside table, making them into strange, new shapes that weren’t really there.With a sigh, I shoved the duvet back with my feet. The cool air swilled around my bare legs, breathing in through the open window. I frowned at it for a moment. I thought I’d left it closed. Then I shook myself; I’d been asleep all day. That always left me
She Runs with Wolves THIRTY-FIVE | OF DEMONS AND DARKNESS
There was someone coming up the stairs.I flipped the book back over. I could feel the faint pounding of my heart as I stumbled out of Kathrena’s room, the words of the chapter’s title branded into my brain. She knew; she had to.I’d just closed the door behind me when the footsteps came to an abrupt halt. I turned slowly, wanting to drag out the time before I knew, for certain, that I’d been caught. I felt like Schrodinger’s poor old cat: simultaneously alive and dead, and I listened to the silence in much the same way that I imagined the cat would watch the light seeping in as its box was opened.Kathrena’s eyes were wide and sparkling, and her cheeks looked flushed. No: she was wearing blusher, over a light coverage foundation. Her thin lips looked plump, too, and they were gleaming with a clear sheen. She was wearing lip gloss.Our eyes narrowed in sync. I would have found it amusing, had my decrepit heart not been pounding against my ribs. Her hair was blown back, too, as though s
She Runs with Wolves THIRTY-SIX | CANDLELIGHT
The sun was cresting the horizon as I slipped back into my bedroom, wafts of steam following me from the shower. It felt good to finally be clean, but the stress of the last few days was weighing on me, and I toyed with missing school for the second day in a row.Falmer’s offer had surprised me, but mostly because of my vehement, instinctive reaction: no. I’d realised, to my utmost shock, that I liked living with the Clan. Until I’d had another option – a serious one, something more than the vague idea of me going off on my own – I’d just assumed that I was staying with Aradia and Ezrand because I had nothing better to do with my time. I realised, now, how wrong I’d been.With that in mind, I’d showered quickly, wanting to rush through my routine so that I would have enough time to get ready for school. As I’d lathered shampoo into my scalp, I’d let m
She Runs with Wolves THIRTY-SEVEN | WONDER
I pulled the door open slowly, wary about who might be on the other side. The knock definitely wasn’t Falmer’s – he was abrupt, aloof, and never quiet, unless he was scheming slyly in the corner. His knocks meant business. This one was… shy.As I reached for the door handle, I wondered, for a beautiful, terrifying second, if it could be Skye. His knocks would be quiet, I imagined, and polite, and more than a little uncomfortable. Skye always seemed as though his skin didn’t fit quite right; he stood awkwardly, as if afraid to stand up to his full height.Thinking of him made my heart blister with warmth, but I shook my head at myself. He wouldn’t risk coming here; he definitely wouldn’t risk coming inside.I smoothed down the front of my dungarees, pushing out the crinkles in my t-shirt, and then I pulled the door open.It was Kathrena. She looked b
She Runs with Wolves THIRTY-EIGHT | ROWAN
“Look, Ellis – are you sure about this?” Kathrena sounded nervous, and she refused to meet my gaze.The truck rumbled along quietly as I pulled into Aspen High’s car park. The sun was golden, with a cold quality to the light that spoke of chilly evenings, of gloved hands stuffed into warm pockets, and of pumpkin spiced lattes. I smiled to myself at the thought of that, and I imagined Skye sipping at one, shyly glancing at me across the worn wooden table in the coffee shop.“I’m certain,” I said, swinging the truck into a parking space. As I twisted the key, turning off the engine, I shifted in my seat to face her.“But–““But nothing,” I interjected, my eyebrows raised. “Your friend wants to meet you in town. So does mine. So I’ll drive us both to town, straight after final period. I’m going to the library
She Runs with Wolves THIRTY-NINE | MARROWS AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH
Kathrena was holding her books and binders close to her chest, and tapping her foot irritably when I reached my truck. The day had warmed, the autumnal chill receding for a few hours, but as the afternoon sky cleared there was a bite to the air that nipped at my fingers.I wished that I could feel it; really feel it, rather than being able to process the temperature change like an analyst. I wanted to shiver, to shove my hands deep into my pockets, and then, later, for Skye to coo over my cold hands, to pull them into his own and blow on them, rubbing them together with determination etched into the handsome lines of his face.I sighed, and Kathrena’s slack-jawed, anxious expression snapped into a frown. “You’re sighing?” She sniped. “You’re the one making me late. Again.”“Woah, Kath,” I said, holding my hands up. “Sorry. I got held up.”Her face softened, ever so slightly, and she shifted the weight of the folders in her arms. “I guess it’s only been a few minutes.”I narrowed my eye
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