LOGINFallonAn Hour Earlier… I’ve always wanted to use the mirror. It’s off limits for good reason. My mom was the last person to use it, and she practically destroyed it. I smooth my fingers over the rough bands of crystal growing over shards of shattered glass, creating an even kaleidoscope-like surface reflecting the deepest shades of onyx. “Are you sure about this?” Naomi asks behind me, holding a grimoire. Her powers of fire and light illuminate the pages within already, without her even opening the heavy, leather-bound book. “I am.” I have to be. I have to shove Zayn’s annoying, blistering voice out of my head and let fate take over. “Let's do it.”“But what happens when you get there?”I turn to look at her, putting on a brave face, even though I’m truly beginning to spiral. A little voice in my head asks me if I’ve actually thought this through. I likely haven’t. I’m definitely jumping to conclusions. I’m for sure doing something dumb and irreversible. I know, in my heart, that
ZaynThe arena in Moonrise is full of young men and women–the best of the best, hand-picked by Queen Maeve and her father, Commander Evander of the Ghost forces. The Ghosts mill about in their form-fitting, far more comfortable and sleek uniforms while knights like myself move more clunkily, trying to find pockets of shade while commanders go over their lists and generals, me included, keep our assigned men in check. “General Zayn!” I turn to the shout of Commander Wilcox, who waves me over to where he’s standing with Commander Heatherway. A group of warriors in their wolf forms glide past me at a trot. One of them nearly runs into me, but they skirt out of my way at the last possible second. It’s madness here. Barely organized. Hot as fucking hell. I reach the commanders. Wilcox jumps in immediately, saying, “The queen is sending three hundred warriors north through Veiled Valley this morning and another two hundred tomorrow morning to set up our camps and stations before we send
FallonNaomi cups her knees while I pace to and from the window in our favorite sitting room, in my suite, which adjoins hers. The shared door is open, and beyond, a flurry of maids quickly unpack her suitcases and trunks. “Tell me again. In detail.”“There’s not much else to say. Mom got a summons from Uncle Sydney. We had to travel to Crescent Falls last night, and now we’re back, and Mom’s turning around again to go to Maatua with a highly specialized selection of our royal forces.”“Because KiloKilo is threatening to attack?” I spit, furious. “I told everyone this would happen.”“In her defense, you did say you’d go to KiloKilo and marry some rando you’ve never met.”“This would have happened, regardless.” I smooth my hands over the bodice of my cream-colored gown with butter yellow trim–one of my all-time favorites. “I told them. I was right. I knew KiloKilo was up to something. I could have been there by now, ensuring peace between our Kingdoms. This never needed to happen. I w
ZaynI hate to admit that Fallon won this time. It took approximately two minutes of threats while waving around my employee file for me to find myself on the edge of my unmade bed with Fallon standing between my knees, her dainty hand gripping my shoulder to keep me still. She danced around the fact that she knows I’m not originally from the Roguelands. She made it clear that she’s under the impression I want my background, whatever it is, kept secret, which is why my file is so thin, and several important chunks on most forms have been left blank on purpose. Her parents didn’t seem to care, but Fallon does. She made a single promise to never ask about my past as long as I’d allow her to fix me up. So I agreed, even if her touch feels like a cool kind of fire–something foreign–something that threatens to undo everything I’ve promised myself I wouldn’t ever consider having for myself. “Stop moving. I can see your skull,” she snaps, dabbing the wound with pure rubbing alcohol. I ca
FallonGrandma Kenna walks around Alyssa’s bed in the clinic at the base of the palace. Beyond a glimmering window on the far side of the room, Moonrise is cast in pearly shades of gold and blue, last night’s storm a distant memory. I haven’t slept, to say the least. Peeved and generally overstimulated, I paced my room until I ran tracks in the carpet and then burst into the hallway the second the sun rose to meet the team of warriors and healers I sent to the temple, and I’ve been here, in the clinic, ever since. It’s not even 9:00 in the morning yet, but I haven’t seen Zayn since last night, when he walked me briskly to my rooms and ordered the knight tasked with standing guard over me all night to not let me out of my rooms until he returned the next morning, which he… hasn’t done yet. Grandma fans her fingers down Alyssa’s chest with a sigh. “I don’t understand what I’m feeling. She’s fine. Perfectly healthy. But something is amiss. I can sense that, I just can’t find it.”“She
FallonZayn stills as the young priestess rushes down the steps, her fingers gripping a slightly damp apron that carries the scent of camphor and chamomile–healing herbs I’m familiar with from my education in matters of witchcraft and the like. She looks incredibly frazzled as she reaches his side, out of breath. She tugs his arm in an effort to hurry him back up the steps, leaving me behind. I stare after them. Somewhere in the distance, over the mountain peaks, thunder rumbles, promising another epic mid-summer storm. My skin prickles. Electricity spices the air, and I’m not sure if it's the weather driving the currents or something else–something slippery, slimy, and uneasy now curling in the pit of my belly. I climb out of the truck through his open door. The hem of my gown snags on the clutch and rips, but the sound is swallowed by another burst of thunder, closer than the last. I’m halfway out of the truck and fumbling with my gown when Zayn disappears through a doorway with t
Brie“I can walk, really,” I say with a hint of annoyance as Maeve wheels me in a wheelchair down the hallway. “You just had a person exit your body rather violently,” my sister quips, obviously enjoying herself at my expense. “I wish I’d seen it.”“I’m glad you weren’t in the room,” I reply, snif
MaeveI like to try to learn something new every day. Today, in the dead hours of the night, I learn that ten dollars does, in fact, cover the cost of a hotel room in the shittiest little hotel in all of Eastonia… which includes a twin bed with what I believe might be a rather large blood stain, a
LoganSunlight pours over the deck of the Asteria, glinting off the sails. I watch the Artemis drift past, Alex waving from the upper deck before fading into the bright glare of the sun. I grip the railing, closing my eyes for a moment and taking a much needed breath that catches in my throat the s
SorenSomething’s off. I yank against the knots, ignoring the pain in my body. I have to give credit where credit is due, I suppose, seeing as the two women who tied me up did a fine job of it. I hear a door close and water running, then make my move. Maeve thinks she has the upper hand because sh







