Sydney
I jolt upright, blinking into near total darkness. Moonlight sweeps over a cavernous space, illuminating darkened corridors and intricate carvings along the green-gray stone of the wall I’m facing. Condensation drips down the stones, gathering in pockets of moss.
Cool night air touches my skin as I scan the perimeter, catching sight of four gray, wolflike bodies bleeding green onto the tiles.
Reality sweeps over me like a tidal wave that washes me back into my body. I clutch my stomach, finding myself clothed somehow. I pull my shirt up and run my hand over my muscles. There’s no stab wound where Gabriel’s knife pierced my stomach.
“Syd?”
“Dad?”
A groan echoes off the walls as I rise to my knees and look around, spotting Dad on his side only a few feet away.
“Dad, Goddess fuck, what happened? How are you here?” I crawl to him, my pants s
LexaI’m woken up by Lis in the late hours of morning. She barely says a word to me–tiptoes around me, in fact, keeping a wide distance between us as she shows me the bathroom located on the second floor, just down the hall from my room, and leaves a set of clothes and a small plate with bread, fresh butter, and a glass of milk on the table beneath the window in my room. My body feels leaden when I run a shower. There’s not much to be had in terms of hot water, but honestly, the cool spray feels nice given this place has little in the way of air conditioning, either. My mind is locked in a haze I have a hard time breaking free of, but after my shower, I change into the clothing Lis laid out for me. Men’s clothing, at least the pants. I tighten them with a belt. The shirt, however, is probably one of hers, given that it barely covers my belly button. After I eat, I tame my hair into a tight bun and start to move downstairs in search of anyone who can tell me where to find my friends,
MaeveRose bushes cast in golden streaks fan out on either side of the illustrious walkway. My heels click against the smooth, alabaster tiles sparkling in the final moments of the sunset illuminating the castle in Crescent Falls in shades of gold and magenta. It’s a work of art. Guards move to the side, bowing their heads as I walk up the stairs, my heart lodged in my throat, my mouth dry from lack of use. I haven’t had much to say these past few days. I haven’t been able to find the words I need to convey my utter despair–especially to my family. A butler opens the door and ushers me inside. It’s all very formal, like I’m an honored guest, a diplomat, rather than a family member who’s been to this castle dozens of times over the course of my life, but I’m stuck in autopilot as my footfalls echo, stretching down dimly lit, but modern, hallways that weave throughout the backside of the castle, where the more formal sitting rooms bleed into rooms full of family pictures and knickknac
Kaleb“We’re out of wood for the pyres,” Otto, an elder wolf, says as he smoothes a withered hand down the length of a log. It’s leaning precariously against the others–against stacks upon stacks of logs given to the Glade last week in anticipation for the dead. It’s not enough. It’s never enough. I turn to look at the funeral pyres, at the rows of log structures that will soon house five or six men to a pyre. Fathers. Brothers. Sons. They should each have their own. The fae know what they’re doing by purposefully giving us less than we need. They always do. “I’ll find more.” Otto gives me a grim smile before turning back to the pyre that will soon be a beacon of light to guide his son, two of his nephews, and his eldest grandson home to the Goddess. He’s not the only man wandering through the darkness tonight adjusting logs and bringing handfuls of wood taken from tables and chairs–anything they can find. It’s a quiet night. Mothers wail silently into pillows. Wives tuck childre
LexaSponsors step forward to claim their victors–their pets. I keep my eyes locked on the shifter at the table until Meg is suddenly shoved forward by a guard into the waiting arms of two fae males in long, emerald green robes. She thrashes, her eyes on mine, her lips pulled back in a snarl, but she’s dragged out of sight, swallowed by the crowd. I step out of line, my body angled toward hers, but a low whistle stops me, and I turn to the shifter. He shakes his head at me in a very discrete motion–a silent demand to stop. For whatever reason, I do. But Chessie is next. Another fae male steps forward but leans down, speaking low in the Dead Tongue. I catch a single sentence. “It’s all right. Let’s get you mended, shall we?” The kindness in his pale blue eyes has my stomach flip-flopping out of sheer confusion, especially after he turns his head slightly to the shifter, who gives him another discreet motion of his head–a quick nod, a blink. Like this was planned. “And who will claim
LexaMeg groans as I wrap a length of leather torn from my dress around her mangled upper arm. Chessie kneels nearby, tearing into her dress, dried blood crinkling off her knuckles in crimson flakes. She hands me another length of leather, but her eyes tell me the truth of the matter. Meg’s in bad shape. She closes her eyes, leaning her head against the grimy wall of the room we were thrown into several hours ago, but we’re together, at least. “She needs to eat something,” Chessie whispers over the soft hum of the battle taking place above our heads. Another Culling. Sixteen so far, not including ours. The rounds take mere minutes to complete. Only five or six hours have passed, I’d guess, since our round ended. No one has come to see us, to feed us or give us water. No medical supplies have been offered. We’ve been alone, trying to stop Meg from bleeding out. I shake my head at Chessie with a sigh. “There’s nothing we can do as it stands.” I glance at the heavy wooden door blocki
LexaThere are no weapons to be had, which is my first and only observation as the horn sounds. Before the chains binding my wrists can fall to the ground like a dead weight, I grab the chain and spin, using my body weight and height to my advantage to send the chain ripping through the air. I keep my grip tight as it makes impact across the face of the first man to turn to us after the horn blares. Blood sprays, and the thick, heavy iron manacle attached to the end of the chain cuts through his face, taking teeth and bone with it. He falls to the ground. There’s a single moment of silence before all hell breaks loose. Bodies surge in my direction, faces contorted in violence, rage, and determination. Smug, male arrogance scents the air, mingling with the blood already beginning to stain the dirt beneath my bare feet, but just as I swing the chain back around to collide with two more men, the ground beneath me begins to pull apart, shaking violently. I teeter to the side, the chain