FELIX Our drive back to Fresia was quiet, but joyful. Despite the darkness of yesterday’s encounter with Derek, the trip had been a success. And I was returning with a fiancée. I was still trying to figure out a way to persuade Mila to have a quick wedding, but I knew there was no point in try
CHARLES Dinner tasted like ash on my tongue. Even the wine, which I usually loved, felt like it was burning acid each time I swallowed. Despite all my best efforts, despite all the hints Isabella and I had dropped, Felix and Mila had managed to get engaged. And judging from the stupid heart-eyes
MILA After we returned to Fresia, I spent all my time at the restaurant, desperate to put together the finishing touches before opening night in two weeks. I was definitely feeling the pressure–I had opened the reservation system, and reservations for the first month had filled up in less than a d
FELIX I had been sitting on the couch, reading a new book by an up-and-coming Fresonian author, when a bolt of fear ran through me. My heart was pounding, and there was a burning sensation in my lungs, as if I was running. Suddenly, my knee stung with a sharp pain, like I had slammed it on the g
I felt a twinge of fear deep in my abdomen–faint, far away, but clear and steady. Mila. “She’s far away,” I exclaimed, not even caring what I was saying out loud at this point. “I can feel it.” Joseph nodded once, then leaned in to whisper: “Prepare the dragons. I’ll cover the ground.” We stal
MILA The ground was cold and unwelcoming, and a frost had set in overnight. My eyes felt heavy, and my limbs felt weighed down by sandbags. I imagined this was what getting hit by a truck felt like. Every time I became alert enough to open my eyes and start moving, trying to find a way out of my
CHARLES As soon as Felix found out that Mila was missing, I took my dragon, Hades, and flew to the forest where she was being held. I knew that it wouldn’t be long until he figured out where she was, and I wanted to be ready. Mila was tied up and chained to a stump in the middle of a clearing in
MILA I was underwater. Floating, drifting, utterly weightless. Everything felt hazy. I couldn’t remember my name, who I was, or how I came to be here. Everything felt distant and quiet. It was almost peaceful. I was vaguely aware of a sound in the distance, someone shouting out over and over,