LOGINAlexVampires 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
SkyeThe street outside Abby’s favorite nightclub is washed in shades of hazy blue and green. It’s a frigid night, and we’re both bundled to the chin as we approach, slipping through the heavy front door and into the long hallway lined with lockers. Abby skips ahead to pay the cover charge while I open and shut lockers to find an empty one. My twin brothers visited Aurorium and the university last year in the dead of winter, just after Solstice. Having grown up in Moonrise, they were shocked by the idea of having to shed layers every time they stepped into a store or restaurant, but after years of this, I’ve grown used to it. Wearing thick boots in a club? That still feels weird, but when it’s negative forty, there’s no way around it. My bracelet snags on my parka sleeve. Adrenaline rushes to my fingertips, prickling like little needles. I force myself to take a breath, overcome by the memory of the bracelet coming unclasped in my office a few days ago, and slowly untangle it before
AlexI’m rarely in my office in the spires above the ice but was forced to make an exception today. After my lecture this afternoon, I had a meeting with a few of the other biology professors, which the dean did not attend, and found myself in the gray confines of this dusty little box of a room, which is home to bound copies of the research I’ve done over the years. Laney blinks up at me expectantly while I look over the lab report on the blood samples the Beta asked for. “Interesting. Was this confirmed?” I ask, pointing to a line of text. She nods, so owlish I wonder if she’s even breathing. She can’t be more than twenty, and even then, she looks more like a terrified, socially awkward twelve-year-old girl in the blue scrubs the clinic volunteers have to wear during their clinicals. “It’s a foreign substance, but there was a lot of it in the second sample–the one we weren’t able to pull a profile from. It’s foreign in nature, possibly an animal?”“An animal on illicit drugs?” I
*Maddox*I sit in the backseat with Isla on the way back to the castle, holding her as close against me as the seatbelts will allow. She is exhausted and dozes off. Mystica, who is sitting on her other side, assures me that she’s fine, she’s just sleeping, but I worry anyway. Seeing her so still agai
*Isla*Back in my room, I sit on the bed and admire the cufflinks I’ve purchased for Maddox… with his own money… while Poppy is off fetching Mrs. Dixon.I need to figure out what to do with them. I don’t want to leave them lying around, but I’m not sure that locking them up will do any good either, no
*Maddox*The water treatment facility looms in the distance, and nothing seems to be stirring within the giant chain-link fence that guards the perimeter. As I slowly drive around, looking for any indication that this place has been tampered with, my eyes are met with not a single sign of distressI p
*Maddox*Before I say anything more to Poppy or Seth, who is standing in the doorway now, his hand grasping the wrist of the woman I believe is responsible for all of this, I tell the wolves I have sent out to look for Isla the address they should be running toward. Since they are all in wolf form, t







