*Maddox*Well, I fucked up again. Obviously.Leaving Isla alone to get some rest or maybe visit with her brother if he comes back, I head back to my office. Now that I’ve had the relaxing diversion of arguing with my breeder–or lover–or whatever the fuck you want to call her–I’m ready to get back to work.I see Seth in the hallway walking at a brisk pace, and the way he’s flying down the hallway, practically running, I have to wonder what the hell has happened now. I don’t even want to know. But I ask. “What’s going on?”Seth shakes his head. “It’s Zabrina,” he says. “She’s just down there in the dungeon throwing a fit, and the guards want to know if they can sedate her. I told them to go ahead, but somehow, when they went in to give her the shot, she managed to rip it out of the guard’s hand with her teeth and plunged it into the guard’s face. Now, they’re all hesitant to go back in there.”“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” I say, wondering how this woman has gotten to be such a pain in my ass.
*Isla*I am dreaming again. I know that it’s a dream because nothing I’m experiencing makes sense to me from my most recent memories, and as I puzzle over what I am looking at, trying to put it together, I’m struggling to figure out not only where I am but when I am… as well as who I am.This feels different than the other two dreams I’ve had recently where it took me a while to realize that I was dreaming and then to figure out who I was, but I seemed to know when it was happening.The sensations that surround me as I stand in this meadow and look at this young woman and young man who are obviously in love make me think that this dream is more like the memory I had of getting on the boat with my parents back when we fled Maatua, the dream I had when I was dying.I know I’m not dying right now. I’m just sleeping. But this does feel like a memory.The only problem is, as much as I feel a familiarity toward both of these people, I have no idea who they are.The girl is beautiful, with l
*Isla*All the information that Mystica is giving me is too much for my mind to process all at once. I’m going to need a few moments to get it all into my brain. For now, I’m still stuck on trying to grasp the idea that I'm pregnant.I’m pregnant, and my child was not only exposed to the wolfsbane that that horrible bitch Zabrina poisoned my body with, but who knows what kind of damage the medications Mystica gave me in an attempt to heal me could cause in a body so tiny and undeveloped?Maddox is telling Mystica to stop filling my head with nonsense when I finally begin to pay attention to their discussion again, and the healer looks horribly offended. “Your Majesty!” she declares. “I am not filling her head with nonsense! It is about time that you came to understand the truth of the situation. You have to accept the fact that your beloved breeder here is more than just the title you have bestowed upon her! She is, in fact, a princess! She is from Maatua! And she does have capabiliti
*Maddox*The shadows on the ceiling begin their dance again, and I suddenly feel all alone, like I used to just a few months ago that feels like a lifetime ago. I watch as tree branches turn to fingers, beckoning, pointing, accusing. I would shift my position and look at the wall, but it wouldn’t make any of the problems and responsibilities weighing me down go away.Isla wanted to sleep alone tonight. She said that she needed some time to process everything, and she still wasn’t feeling well.I believe her on both accounts, but it makes me sad. My arms feel empty without her wrapped within them. My chest feels cold and exposed without her head cradled there.I’ve made a lot of mistakes in the last few months. I can’t admit that to anyone else, but I can admit it to myself, at least to a degree. I knew that Isla was special the moment I first laid eyes on her, standing in her bedroom with a towel wrapped around her, and especially when I caught a glimpse of her perfect form in the mir
*Isla*“I just don’t understand how he can be so confident about the existence of this curse but not be willing to budge an inch when it comes to the discussion of the fountain.” I take a bit of my piece of toast and shake my head, not sure if I’m actually going to be able to eat much of what Poppy has set before me on the table this morning. All night, I tossed and turned, thinking about Maddox and the discussion we’d had right before I asked him to leave the night before.“Well, he is very protective of you,” Ben says, still chewing. His appetite has definitely not been affected by this situation. He came back to check on me after he was certain Maddox was gone last night, and I’d told him I was pregnant and needed to get some rest. He’d been ecstatic to know he was going to be an uncle again. My sisters have kids after all, but he never gets to see them because they live so far away, and even though I do, too, now, my brother and I are very close, much closer than he is with anyone
*Maddox*“You look like hell.”Seth shakes his head at me as he walks toward me in the hall. I narrow my gaze at him, but I can hardly be mad at him when what he’s saying is absolutely correct. I’m sure I do look like hell. I probably look like hell twice warmed over.He has my morning protein shake in his hand, and rather than chastising him for making fun of me, I say, “Give me that.”“All right,” he says, handing it over. “But I’m pretty sure it’s not gonna help with… whatever’s going on here.” He raises a hand toward my face and moves it around a bit as if to indicate which part of me he is mostly talking about.I literally growl at him and take the drink, sipping a bit of the vanilla-flavored concoction as I glare at him over the top of the glass. “You’re so helpful,” I mutter. “Thanks.”“Maybe we should call in Willa?” He sounds hesitant to say such a statement, and he should be. I groan in disgust. “Oh, come on! It’s her job, Maddox.”The hallway is empty. I know it must be for
*Isla*“We need to talk,” I say to Poppy, and she stops fluffing the pillows on my bed long enough to look over at me.“Oh? Now you would like to talk?” She sits down on the edge of my bed and crosses one leg over the other one so that her foot is dangling. She kicks it around in a circle, her hands folded over her knee. “All right. What would you like to discuss? What do you think about the rain we got last night? Oh, did you hear that Barbie in the kitchen found her true mate? Do you think Beta Seth plucks his eyebrows?”Letting out a sigh, I walk over and sit next to her. “Stop it, Poppy. I understand that you’re upset. You feel like I should’ve told you what was going on, and you’re not wrong. I just… I didn’t know anything until last night. And after I talked to Maddox about it, I was so exhausted, I just wanted to go to sleep.”“I understand.” She pops up off of the bed and crosses to where she left her duster earlier. Picking it up, she begins her aggressive dusting motion agai
*Maddox*It’s drizzling as Isla and I step outside to begin our walk to the stage that is set up behind the gallows. My father used to give his declarations from inside of the castle. He’d simply step outside onto a balcony and address everyone before he ordered the execution. Sometimes, he’d do that right before going back to bed. Other times, he’d sit in a chair near the balcony and sip a whiskey while he contemplated the world.I never knew what to think of him in those moments. Did he feel at all guilty for what he’d just done or did he feel like the most powerful man in the world? I have a feeling, now that I am in that position myself, he might have had a bit of each of those sensations.Isla looks beautiful in a purple gown and cloak that remind me slightly of the one she’d been wearing when she first arrived at the castle. Not that I’d seen much of her in it that day, but I’d seen it hanging in her closet later. This one is the same style, but it is made of much nicer material
AvivaSilverhide is in absolute chaos. I race toward the packhouse, still wearing pajamas, of course, but yielding my gilded bow, sending my arrow flying toward the molted beast trying to get inside. Claw marks mar the door–vicious and wide–and the beast, once a wolf, I believe, but now sporting four rows of massive, sharp teeth and multiple eyes, thrusts its entire weight against the door, causing the wall around it to splinter on impact. My arrow pierces the small of its pack through and through before whizzing back to me. I catch it, prime my bow, and send it flying again. This hellhound… it’s fresh. There’s nothing old and tired about it. Magic pours off its body, and blood stains its mouth and claws. People are screaming inside the packhouse. People–mostly women and children–who’d been enjoying their breakfast before this creature came over the valley to rain terror on my pack. If I’d left the packhouse only a few minutes earlier, I would have known why Ryan and Evander weren
MistyI snatch Addy from Kenna’s arms and break into a sprint, Aviva hot on my heels. Kenna’s voice behind us, calling out to her kids, fades as I burst through the doors of the packhouse and race across the village. The healer’s cottage rises ahead, but my lungs are burning when I finally reach the front door, which is ajar, and shove my way inside. The smell of herbs and spices hangs in the air… but that’s it. The cottage is totally empty. “Hello?” I shout, clutching Addy for dear life as dread overwhelms my senses. “Cole?!”Aviva skids to a stop behind me, panting. “Where are the guys?”“I have no idea,” I tell her, scanning the room. There’s a single door along the wall, tucked between two ceiling height bookshelves full of jars and small wooden boxes likely filled with more herbs. Aviva hisses in frustration and turns for the door, murmuring something about finding Ryan and Evander, and leaves me in the cottage alone. I step toward the worktable, noticing the fine coating of
MistyCole moves through our little kitchen in a hurry. He practically jumped out of bed this morning, grunting and bumping into the dresser and the doorframe in his haste to get dressed. It’s not even light yet, and the usual dense morning fog that swirls through the village hasn’t yet lifted, but Cole is making so much noise that Addy wakes up in a fuss, his little face twisted as he begins to wail in my arms. I’ve been up with him for an hour now, at least. Cole, who’s been amazing with divvying up the nighttime wakings so we each get a few hours of sleep, didn’t even stir. In fact, when I rose from bed to take Addy out of his crib, Cole rolled over and covered his head with his pillow. I shouldn’t be angry, but I am. He acted strange all night–distant, and quiet. More quiet than usual, I should say. It was like he was in a trance, and after an hour of trying to talk to him when he returned from dinner at the packhouse, he’d simply laid down in bed and passed out cold. I hate t
AvivaI barely slept that night. Actually, I didn’t sleep at all. I paced the living wishing for the first time since Lexa was born that she’d stop sleeping through the night to give me something to focus on other than the fact Logan saw two white wolves. Sure, some wolves have white fur. Like Sarah, for one. Misty, too, is a pale gold, but neither of them have sightless, silver eyes. Another chill snakes up my spine as I pace across the living room again, rubbing my eyes. I did my best to convince Logan he’d seen some of our pack members, but I know without a shadow of a doubt that’s not the case. The last time I saw two white wolves was before the war, and I now consider them a warning. A warning of things to come, of trials coming my way, of the threat of death. Part of me hopes it was just Maddox and Isla paying us a visit, but the creeping sensation in my chest makes me think otherwise. I don’t have powers. I don’t have visions. But I see these fuckers when no one else can…
AvivaTo say I’m relieved to be home is an understatement. Our group is greeted with enthusiasm, especially after it’s revealed that we snagged enough deer and elk to see us through nearly the entire winter, and a huge banquet is held in celebration. Notably absent from the dinner is Misty. Lexa sleeps peacefully in my lap while my gaze drifts across the packhouse. I sweep past Ryan to a new face in the crowd. Well, not entirely new, but new to the dinner held here every night. Kyra, wearing a dark green cloak, stands close enough to Cole that I feel a sudden jolt of unease as she reaches into her cloak and pulls out a vial, pressing it into his hands. Cole nods in thanks, but the line between his brows is evident. He looks like he’s in pain as he turns away from her, his skin slightly pale and eyes watering enough that I feel myself rising from the bench in an effort to walk over and ask what’s wrong, but then he turns back to the conversation he was having with a group of men an
MistyCole groans against my neck as I reach between, running my hand down his chest to the deep V of the muscles of his waist. He kisses me again, hungerly this time, his tongue sweeping over mine in a slow dance that has sparkles of pleasure rippling over my skin. I sigh against his mouth as he grinds his hips against mine, rocking us back and forth, his hands drifting down my sides and settling on my ass with a squeeze. He slides his hand beneath my shirt, revealing how naked I already am. “I didn’t bring any pajamas,” I admit, my voice pitched with excitement as he smiles against my lips. There’s no panties in his way tonight. A dull, throbbing ache radiates through my lower belly. My inner folds are already slick as he drags his fingers through them, lowering his head against my shoulder and trembling with anticipation. “Fuck, Misty, you’re soaking wet.”I close my eyes and arch when he presses two fingers inside of me, his thumb stroking slow, teasing circles over my clit. I
Misty“Aviva, stop!” I shout as she begins to turn toward the woods, her bow raised and arrow primed and ready. My powers ignite, stronger than they’ve ever been, and explode through the clearing in bright, blue light that sizzles into the ground. I swear, somewhere deep in the swirling, blue ether, I hear what sounds like a lock clicking–like I’ve just jammed a key into a padlock and wrenched on it until it turned–and then the ground shakes violently, a crushing, grinding sound beginning to echo through the clearing. Red eyes appear near the tree line–three sets–barreling toward us. Aviva roars as she pulls back on her arrow again, but then she… disappears with a surprised scream. “Aviva?!” I shout, then choke on her name as the ground beneath me falls away. My powers burn out. I’m falling through the darkness, reaching blindly for anything to grab onto. Something beneath me hits the ground with a crunch, and then I’m landing on top of the object, which turns out to be Aviva. We
MistyLogan is quite gaunt. That’s the first thing I notice as I linger in the doorway of the healer’s cottage, watching Cole check Logan’s ears. Cole is amazing with kids, and it shows, because Logan cracks a smile at something Cole says and Aviva interprets. But Cole’s eyes are heavy with concern when he turns away from the boy, his eyes scanning his notes before closing his notebook and setting it on the counter. Aviva, wearing Lexa on her back, takes Logan’s hand and leads him out of the healer’s cottage, closing the door behind her. I watch through the window as they walk away, into the rolling, morning fog. It’s a chilly late summer morning–the first truly cold morning since we arrived last week. It’s been four days since almost everyone fell ill, but thankfully that’s over. And, Kyra isn’t here right now. She’s off doing something in Endova, according to Cole and Ryan. I feel immediately more relaxed in her absence. “So? Is he going to live?” I try to tease to break the t
Aviva“What’s your name?” I ask in the old tongue as I lead the boy through one of the pastures, shoving chest-height strands of wheat to the side to give us a path.He doesn’t speak for a while. I don’t press him for information, either. The fact that he’s following me is enough.“Logan,” he says after a moment, his voice calm and cool like the breeze coming off the rolling hills in the distance.“How old are you?”“Twelve.”“I thought so.” I look at him over my shoulder, smiling, but he doesn’t return the gesture. Dark circles line his eyes, and he’s incredibly thin, even for a boy his age, who all seem to be gangly and lanky. His dark, nearly black hair is pin straight and sticks up at all angles, rustling in the breeze, and he’s pale with freckles across the bridge of his nose.A scar wraps fr