I’m not a trained soldier and I don’t know much about stealth, but I keep to the shadows as best I can as I move around toward the alleyway where I saw Caleb fall into. Fortunately, as this area is underground, it’s already dark. And many of the streetlights have been shot out, making it even darker
“You would fight me,” Samuel repeats slowly, as if in disbelief. “For him.” “Not just for him, but for your sense of honor as well as mine,” I tell him. With that wild look in his eye, I don’t trust him enough to even turn my back on him for a minute. Of all the dangers out here, the invaders and
The man moves closer, coming right for us. I tense all of my muscles, ready to fight, when I blink and realize the identity of the man in question. It’s Tristan. Breathe exhales my lungs so sharply, I feel like it’s been punched out of me. Tears well in my eyes, relief flooding through me. Tri
“Destroy who? Who can’t we trust?” He clearly knows more than I do, perhaps from slinking around behind enemy lines. “George. Caleb’s Gamma. One of his closest advisors,” Tristan says. “The one who never agreed with him.” Tristan nods. “Caleb always thought some dissenting voices were good in
The road that leads out of the caverns is a winding spiral. Tires screech as we go around and around, up and up, Tristan never once taking his foot off of the pedal. In the backseat, as I cling to Caleb’s unconscious body, the force of the turning pushes us back into the seat. The blanket that’s c
Caleb’s vision is red as he closes his hands around the traitor’s throat. He has her up against the wall, her feet dangling, kicking wildly. She claws at Caleb’s hands with her dull human fingernails, as if that would ever be enough for him to not see justice done. “C-Caleb…” she gasps, the villai
Caleb gently twists his body this way and that, feeling each poke of discomfort. “That explains why I feel like swiss cheese. Help me to the couch then, damn it.” Tristan and Harper both help Caleb to his feet and together they shuffle toward the floral-pattern couch against the wall. “A bed wou
Caleb pats his thigh like he wants me to come sit on his lap. He can’t be serious. The man could barely walk across the room on his own and now he wants to have sex? “We should wait,” I start to say. His eyes narrow. “You dare deny your king?” He adds a frown. “Or do you think your king incapabl
Caleb reads the threat before I can think to hide it. As he does, a red hue begins to swirl in his eyes swallowing all other color there.“Caleb,” I whisper, hoping the softness in my voice might help calm him, when he seems so very much like he might shift at any moment.The fingers of his free ha
The next morning, though I wake without Caleb, I still feel as though I am in some kind of beautiful dream. The evidence of Caleb’s being here the night before remains all around me, and on me.In the mirror, I spy several live bites running up and down the column of my throat. They continue over my
In the early morning hours, Caleb holds Harper tightly against him. They’ve made love several times throughout the afternoon and evening before Harper finally passed out from exhaustion. She’s so strong, so passionate, that Caleb sometimes forgets she’s only human.He pushed her too hard, but even i
At once, I card my fingers through his hair. Back bowing, I try to give him more room.One of his hands slides under my ass, pulling me up against his body, lifting my feet from the floor. I wrap my legs around him.He laps and suckles my nipple, then pops off to kiss his way to the other breast. He
“You…” I’m certain I’m hallucinating now. After all my pleading, all my hoping, it doesn’t seem real that my wishes could all come true now in the final hour – the final minute. I try again to question it. “You…?” Once more, my voice falls flat.“I made it the entire way to the vows,” Caleb says. “I
“Very well,” Caleb replies.“Please, repeat after me. I take you, Annabelle…”Caleb opens his mouth, but the words do not come.Whispers begin in the gathered crowd.Caleb wishes he could bring himself to care. About them. About Annabelle. About any of this.The chaplain clears his throat. “I take y
Caleb goes through the motions of the ceremony. There’s a lot of talking. The chaplain does a lot of talking, and then members of the court get to all say their peace.Caleb blocks most of it out, focusing instead on this unfamiliar, unsettled feeling inside of him. Yes, he wants Harper to be here i
Looking at her, Caleb tries to stir up some feelings. If he could just feel something. It doesn’t have to be as strong as how he feels for Harper, but something in the same vein. He can admit she’s beautiful. He can admit she will likely be a good Luna.But that’s where his affections for her end.
I run all the way back to my room, trembling with shock and upset. Bethany turns to me the moment I come rushing through the door.“There you are! Where did you go?” she says. She seems angry for a moment, until she fully takes in the state of me. “What happened?”Shakily, I tell her what I can, abo