LOGINAviva
Rain patters across the wooden roof covering one corner of the old temple. I roll off the makeshift bed of hay and wool blankets I keep here. I stretch, rolling my neck. My hands are still bloody from the rogue I encountered last night as I gather my weapons and head down to the creek.
I sleep out here sometimes, especially when the weather is nice. The old temple is just far enough from the village where I don’t have to worry about running into anyone dSkyeI 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
Skye Alex nods, looking thoroughly concerned while I spiral into oblivion. “Skye–”“Did we…?” I look down at my clothes, voice shaking, and see that I’m wearing the same outfit I wore out last night, much to my relief. It was a stupid question, but I’ve already asked it.“We did not,” he confirms with a soft wince. “Do you remember anything from the club last night?”“Barely. Was I drugged? I don’t drink that much. I don’t think I even had a drink last night at all. I remember walking in and….” My memory is strangely hazy. I take several gulps of water and try to hand the glass back, but Alex shakes his head. “Finish it. It has electrolytes in it.”“I didn’t drink–”“It doesn’t matter. You’re going to feel like hell if you’re dehydrated. You’re a shifter, remember? You metabolize like a slug.”I frown, the rim of the glass pressed against my lower lip. He’s not wrong, but it’s still a mean, but very true, thing to say. “Was I drugged? Why do I feel like this?” My bracelet is warm ag
*Maddox*It was a four-hour drive from where I’d been stationed near the front line of the war back to the castle, and I’d have to be back early tomorrow because there’d been activity along the ridge we were currently considering attacking. Alpha Geofrey appears to be amassing his forces on the other
*Maddox*The drive to Cliff’s Edge pack will take several hours. If so many of the packs between our territory and Alpha Charlton are hostile right now, it’s best if we take our troops around them. The last thing I want to do is give the impression that we might be moving in, planning an invasion, be
*Maddox*I remember that something is different before I even open my eyes. The long drive, the fight, the amazing sex… I slept well last night because I am back home in my castle, in a comfortable bed, with the woman I love.But she is angry with me, and I honestly can’t blame her, though I was hopef
*Isla*I didn’t know if I should go back to my room or to a garden or maybe straight to my parents’ house, though they hadn’t followed after me. Ben is on my tail, so as I fly down the hallway not really knowing where I’m going, the other thought I had, to the top of the castle and over the side, qui







