LOGINSkyeA network of skybridges and elevators leads to a handful of warming rooms and airlocks directly on the surface of the ice. The main one is quite large and houses a row of lockers, as well as changing rooms for men and women, and separate outdoor entrances for both. I hang my coat in a locker, fiddling with my padlock, then walk into the women’s changing room, where steam creeps across the floor, and several shower nooks spray warm, wet air, the entire space almost suffocated with humidity. I change out of my clothes and fold my pants and sweater neatly before donning the robe I brought from my condo. It took me an hour to find it, seeing as I’ve barely started the process of organizing my clothing after moving into my new place, but now it’s almost midnight, and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to sleep until I burned off some energy. It’s a balmy negative sixty when I shove open the door to the airlock and close it with a crunch behind me. Wind rattles the thick, frosted glass
SkyeI adjust the thick scarf worn around my neck and square my shoulders, careful of every movement I make while Abby picks at the plate of food on the tray in front of her. The cafeteria around us is quiet at this hour, full of students snacking in silent solitude over laptops and stacks of books, and professors and postdocs finding scraps worth of a meal after a long day of research and lectures. My last lecture of the day wrapped up less than an hour ago without the drama or fanfare I expected. Most of my lectures are math-heavy, which seriously irks my more experimentally leaning students. I spent the entire lecture with my back turned to the podium, making sure my scarf and turtleneck stayed in place, ignoring the groans and murmuring behind me. Now, the bruise is hard to ignore. It pinches with every move I make, and the scarf is definitely overkill. I’m sweating under the weight of it. “What’s up with you?” Abby asks, looking just as uncomfortable and as exhausted as I am.
Skye“Chin up.” I tilt my chin, my vision taken up by the serious but strangely devoted look painting shadows across the planes of Alex’s face as he zips me into a bright yellow parka, all the way to the neck. He’s careful, far more gentle when touching me than he was only half an hour ago, when I was breathless on his lap, and he sucked a bruise so deep I can still feel it throbbing. He’ll barely meet my eyes as it stands. In all honesty, I can barely meet his. Whatever that was felt… less like I was offering him the sustenance he desperately needed and more like something totally, completely, out of control and overtly sexual. I flush with heat just thinking about it, a small, involuntary squeak leaving my lips when he grips my fingers and reaches above my head to dig through a bin of gloves. We’re chest to chest, and he smells… amazing. Like everything male, dangerous, and delicious. Like things I can’t possibly place because this is the first time I’ve ever wanted–“These should
AlexVampires generally don’t need sleep. By sleep, I mean the deep, vulnerable kind that allows dreams to fade into focus and a body to go slack. Vamp kids, sure. They sleep all the time, but once our biological clock starts to slow, once necessary things like sleep make less of a difference in our overall performance, we generally don’t do it. A light rest? Sure. I’ve needed one of those for a long, long time, which is why, when I open my eyes after an hour on Skye’s couch to find her sitting on the coffee table in front of me, our knees touching, her eyes open wide and full of so much excitement she’s trembling, I wish on whatever gods are listening that I could, in fact, just shut my eyes and let the entire world fade to black, even just for a few more hours. She’s gripping a notebook for dear life, her eyes holding on mine expectantly. “What time is it?” I ask. Deciding not to move an inch and pretending to be in some kind of blood coma might work in my favor when it comes to
SkyeWhen I was a little girl, I had these amazing dreams almost every night. I could have gone anywhere in the dream realm, coasting on ribbons of thoughts and memories that didn’t belong to me, but one place felt like home more than others. One place with scratchy chairs, sconces lighting the floor, and otherwise, darkness. I still don’t know why I used to have dreams about the observatory on the campus where I now work as a professor. I don’t know why that little, nameless boy haunted those dreams. His memory is starting to fade with every year that passes, but I know one thing for certain. I am meant to be here. Not because of my brain. Not because of my advancements in physics and the world of science as a whole. Not because of my map of distant stars that witches will one day use to strengthen their magic. No, it’s because of this. Gods, I feel it in my bones the second I press my bare wrist to Alex’s lips. His eyes meet mine, unsure, maybe even a little scared. How long
SkyeA lab assistant, a young woman in her early twenties by my estimation, makes quick work of the blood draw, but I still feel queasy and unsteady while wrapped in a blanket in the clinic lobby, silently munching on a bag of the stalest oatmeal raisin cookies in the Allied Kingdoms. Alex dutifully escorted me here, choosing the quickest path through campus. This early on a Saturday morning, the chances of running into anyone we knew were slim, and luck was in our favor, because we didn’t pass another soul. Now, it’s closing in on 9:00 A.M., and my unintentionally wild night has caught up to me in droves. My stomach is in knots, and I feel like I haven’t slept in years. I assured him I could get home on my own, and he left, which should make me feel better, but it doesn’t.“Dr. Scarlett said you’re not feeling well,” the lab assistant says, returning to my side. “I have some basic medicine here. We keep healing tonics in stock as well, if that’s more your vibe.”“I’m–I’m fine, just
*Isla* Maddox runs to me looking just as worn out as me and Poppy are. We’ve dragged Antony over a mile along the beach back to the city, praying that someone would see us and help. Hot sun beats down on us as I watch my mate close in, his eyes narrowed and mouth parted in surprise. “Is he–” “He’s
*Maddox*Shit. I can feel Antony’s smug grin even though I can’t see him. Sure, proposing to the woman who is already the mother of my child AND my Luna at a party in the honor of my new Beta is ridiculous, but he was right to say I had done everything backward already. So, why stop? But now Trinity
*Maddox*Leo moves across the field of the stadium on the outskirts of my territory, the walls crawling with vines and smelling sharply of freshly cut grass. I stand with my arms crossed as Leo instructs a group of warriors who are setting up for the trials, watching their every move. Leo has fallen
*Isaac*My office feels like it’s caving in on me as I tap my fingers on my desk and stare down at the profiles scattered across the wooden surface. The same desk I used to sit beneath as a child while my dad conducted pack business is now littered with pictures and essays written by women I don’t kn







