LOGINSarah
After the Ball
Alpha Sydney of Shadowcrest pauses during the long trek down the stairs leading out of the temple of the Moon Goddess. He extends a hand to me, and I take it, finding his hands warm but slightly clammy.
I meet his eyes. Goddess, he has radiant eyes. The kind of blue even the best artists can’t capture in a painting. Dark blue, like the deepest ocean, and so expressive I can see every thought behind them.
OakleyMy body hits the rock wall, but not as hard as I intended when I decide this would be a better way to die than between that monster’s teeth. The contact does knock the wind out of me, though, and I fall backward directly on my ass in a puddle of stale, sulfuric smelling water. The beast snorts and huffs nearby, and those sounds echo into what I quickly realize is a tight space–a cave, a single rift in the rock wall I thought would be my grave. The opening is just wide enough for me to slide my hips through. Once I’m past the entrance, the space opens. I keep moving, instinct spurring me to get as far away as possible. I pause and scrub my hands over my face, taking several deep breaths to try to calm my nerves, but it’s useless. My chest aches while my heart continues to thunder. I have no weapons, no way to defend myself. I can’t outrun this monster, and for some reason, I can’t shift. I just don’t understand how to yet. I rise and creep back through the cave until I can se
OakleyI’m not sure where I am. If it’s the Goddess’s afterlife, Her Golden Kingdom that awaits all true believers when they pass have been massively led astray. I’m freezing. My skin feels like ice as I blink into hazy, silver light that bleeds through the shadows of a forest. Raindrops slither from dark green leaves and fall onto my cheeks and neck, sliding like tears. Or, I’m crying, which would make a great deal of sense, seeing as I feel like I’ve been through a meat grinder. I’m lying on my back when my memories begin to sizzle back into focus. My last lucid memory registers. The thing that rose over the plains, with its black wings and grizzly, terrifying snout. Its teeth, barbed tail, and scale-like armor that was so black it seemed endless. My breath comes in quick gulps. I slowly lift my head, taking in my scraped up, naked body, then my surroundings. I am not in Endova anymore. I’ve never seen trees like this. They’re gnarled and bent at odd angles. Most are evergreens,
OakleyI’ve always loved an Endovan sunset. The skies here are wide and open, and in the right conditions, the clouds burst in the richest shades of gold, orange, pink, and light blue as the sun slips below the horizon. The smoky air makes everything feel slightly hazy and dream-like, even here, about a mile from the village, where the grassy grazing land is now broken up by tents and small groups working as hard as they possibly can to finish shearing hundreds of sheep. Aunt Janis was right when she said it was an all-hands-on-deck situation. Endova experienced quite the baby boom in terms of their herds this year, and while it’s a notable success on all fronts, it means hundreds of sheep to shear and thousands of pounds of wool to process in a matter of days. Naked sheep don’t fare well in the winter, that’s for sure, but by the time the rainy season hits the grasslands, their coats will already be growing in thick again, and next spring, their first shear of the year won’t be a t
NaomiFallon’s old bedroom in our shared suite blazes into technicolor stripes of blue and dark purple. Early morning shadows sink over the four bodies in her old bed, which is in use as it stands, seeing as the princess herself has returned for a family visit with her twins, and her husband, who is awake and looking at me with cat-like intent. I take several silent steps toward the bed, eyeing Zayn, who is so still I’m not confident he’s breathing, but whatever. I was hoping Fallon would be awake, not him. At least, I don’t need him. I’d prefer if he wasn’t here all together. I keep telling myself it’s because, while he’s an all-powerful wizard, the Grand Wizard of KiloKilo, and could likely kill me in a second with just a twitch of his fingers, not because I see him as more of a pet of my sister than a man. Right now, he’s curled around her like a lion, his hazel eyes open but narrowed on mine. His arm is stretched across the dip of Fallon’s hip, his fingers resting on their daug
IanIt’s storming in Veiled Valley, as it usual is in the later afternoon. I honestly love it here, and I’m not alone. Aris and Posey’s home, which they share with their entire brood of children, rests on a cliff overlooking a dense, mystical forest that doesn’t make any sense. Evergreens grow thick here, but so do tropical trees and underbrush that makes the view from the crystal skybridges overlooking their deep valley an uncommon shade of bright green. Aris, as a Shadowsynger but also the divine heir of his bloodline, controls the weather here. At least, his emotions do. I honestly don’t know much about that. I’m normal in comparison. Skye spirited me here an hour ago. Lucan, her son, is at home in Moonrise with Alex, where they both work as researchers at the university. Moonrise was my first stop. Uncle Sydney didn’t say much to me when he arrived in New Glade, but he did talk to my parents for a moment. I’m not really sure what to expect now. To be collared again? Probably. To
IanDad’s in the mill on the edge of New Glade territory when I walk into the village. It’s almost noon. I took my sweet time walking home, mostly because Miller and Allison crossed paths with me, and I knew for sure he was about to get his ass handed to him in pieces for keeping her out well past sunrise. Both looked guilty as hell, which is good. He deserves that. She does, too, honestly. The air is spiced with saw dust and sap. I breathe in deeply, filling my lungs with the familiar smell, and lift my eyes to the catwalk where my dad is standing, his arms crossed over the railing, talking to another equally imposing man twenty years his senior. Grandpa Ryan arches a brow down at me, and I know I’m screwed. “Fuck, fuck,” I murmur, climbing the stairs to the catwalk, grumbling over the hum of saws. “Well, well, well.” Grandpa smirks, his beard peppered with sawdust that makes up half the air in the room. “Chose the long way home, I take it?”“Likely to avoid the conversation he
*Ella*I have no idea what I’m doing. I have no clue where we are, or what to expect when we reach the witches. In my defense, I jumped through the portal blind, unsure what awaited me on the other side beside my mate, who I’d be happy to never see again. I stare into the small warming fire and hug m
*Isaac*“You’ll burst through the seams if you keep moving like that,” Cassian says with a bite in his voice as he fastens my leathers–a vest and forearm guards–over my black shirt. Pins displaying my status as not only the Alpha King, but a warrior of the highest rank, are displayed over my heart. T
*Maddy*I watch as Isaac leans over his desk to grab another stack of papers from a banker’s box on the far edge. He sighs as he flips through the papers and sets them down, reaching for a pair of manilla folders instead, and sits back down. I turn my head back to the window and watch the rain fall i
*Maddy* The ballroom is totally transformed from floor to ceiling. The finest flowers in the kingdom stand in large, marble vases resting on tables covered in light blue tableclothes. Champagne flows, poured into crystal flutes, and graceful string music fills the air, rising above the chatter. I w







