As time passes our friends start to filter out until it’s finally just the core family here – my family, Jesse’s family, and the new addition of my mates and Ben and Daphne. Our parents dig into the more complicated questions now, asking us about the details of getting me into the Academy and keepin
“You’re coming home, son,” Cora says, crossing her arms and glaring at her eldest child. “Because if I let you stay here, you’ll drink yourself silly with your cousins and then be useless to me in the morning.” “Mom!” Jesse begs, sending an anxious glance towards Daphne, who pretends not to notice
“Luca, I’m so sorry for not even thinking about your family and making you come to see mine,” I murmur, taking little handfuls of his shirt in my fists as I lean my weight against him, looking up into his face. Luca smiles at me, his arms loose around me. “Don’t be sorry,” he murmurs, “I wanted to
“Nah,” Daphne says with a big yawn, reaching for her suitcase and lifting it up onto the bed to flick it open. “I brought my own.” We get ready for bed pretty quickly, with Daphne’s face cracking with yawn after yawn. We chat a little bit, winding down from our day as we brush our teeth, get chang
I move fast down the hall, Jackson at my heels, and I hope desperately that we’re lucky enough to evade the guards who prowl these halls at night. I mean, we haven’t had a problem with being attacked in our own Palace…ever? So the guards are few and far between. But still, we’ve got to move fast – b
“I think so,” I say, giving a little shrug. “That’s what she called it when mom and Cora talked to her, after all. A ‘gift.’ She said all of her grandchildren would be likewise gifted. Do you know where yours comes from?” Slowly he shakes his head. “No idea.” “Well, maybe it’s also a gift,” I sa
“I was a catastrophe of a person,” Jackson groans, laughing softly as he presses his eyes shut and remembers his first few days in the city. “I was…so shocked by the noise, Ariel, and the pavement – god, stone and metal everywhere - and the people. God, I didn’t think that there were that many peopl
“I hate that,” I murmur, working to press myself closer to him, even though that’s not really possible. “I hate the idea of you scared, and alone, and talking to girls when I was just like…half a city away.” “But you were engaged,” he says, his voice strange – I think a little amused? I don’t know