“Juniper, could you…could you maybe visit my mom?” he whispers. “Tell her…I don’t know, in a way that she understands, what to expect when the next kid is…exactly the same as me?” I laugh a little and nod, grinning at him. “And…please ask her not to name me Redman,” he whispers. “It’s such a wei
Soldiers carry two caskets ahead of me into the Goddess’s temple, but I only keep my eyes fastened on the one that holds the body of the only man I’ve ever loved. The only man I’ve ever kissed, even. I was supposed to marry him today. The wolf in my soul raises her snout to the sky and gives a l
My breath pants from my lips as the wind and darkness rips around us. We only travel for a few terrifying moments before my feet hit hard against stone and light returns to the world, however dim. I groan in horror at what I see – at the black sky that stretches for miles in all directions over t
I jump and blush when the bartender clears his throat, because I’d been so busy staring at the tall, broad-shouldered stranger that I didn’t even notice that the bartender arrived. “All right, little lady,” the bartender says, smirking at me and leaning against the bar. “What’ll it be?” “Um,”
I groan when I wake up in the morning, immediately clutching my pounding head and rolling over in the blankets that are spread beneath me on the bathroom floor. I pant a little, working my sticky tongue in my mouth, desperate for some water – but god, every time I move it’s agony – I moan, disgu
“Who the hell are you!?” I shout, horrified, stumbling back. “I’m – I’m the wolf!” the boy sputters, gesturing at his tall, lanky form which is indeed made up of the same shining blue and white light as the wolf. “You’re a guy!?” I gasp, appalled. “I…yeah?” he responds, giving an awkward sh
And then, to my distinct pleasure, he sighs and turns around. “Good boy,” I murmur, making him laugh and shake his head again as I drop my wedding dress to the ground. The moment I get into the bath, I take a deep breath and duck underneath the steamy water, sinking all the way down to the depth
Anton murmurs. “Whatever this is, you agreed to it – you should have gotten more details.” I glare over my shoulder at Anton and see him obligingly covering his eyes with his hand, intuiting that I’m going to get out. I hesitate for a second because…I mean, his hand is transparent.So, what the hell is covering his eyes going to do?But Anton’s eyes are shut, so I sigh and turn, climbing out of the tub, trusting his intent more than the details of his physical form. “Tricked or not,” Anton sighs, “you’re in a competition to marry a guy and you don’t even know who he is?”I wrap my towel around me as I step out of the tub and knotting it high above my breasts before I reach for another one and start to dry my hair. “But that’s all I’ve got. I mean, you’re dead – doesn’t that give you insider information or something?”“No really,” Anton says, dropping his hand and looking up at me as I continue to towel off. “I think the Goddess kind of…snatched me before I got to wherever dead people
“Juniper, could you…could you maybe visit my mom?” he whispers. “Tell her…I don’t know, in a way that she understands, what to expect when the next kid is…exactly the same as me?” I laugh a little and nod, grinning at him. “And…please ask her not to name me Redman,” he whispers. “It’s such a wei
“If…if it were possible,” Blythe says, still looking down at his feet. “I’d like to be reincarnated…soon. I don’t want to go back to the Dead place – I don’t think I was really…there. And I don’t want my memories, if you please. I want to…try again. Start fresh.” Life hums, considering, and then n
This world – it will be as I will it. It is mine. And if she wants to keep her place here – her beautiful beacon city in the Darkness – then she will recognize my right to rule as well as my demands. Or else I’ll go to war with her as well. And I’ll win that one too. My wolf snarls, deep a
Orion sighs, dropping his face into his hand, shaking his head. “June…” he sighs, probably trying to warn me away from a fight with a Goddess. I ignore him, all of them. If Anton has had a mother out there all of this time, he deserves information! And she was sending Faiza to actively tell him to
“Yes,” Laila says, grinning and nodding eagerly to me. “And me too! He really is our Selkie Prince!” I beam at her in turn, quite pleased to be reminded of that and have my boy welcomed into so many family circles. “Yes,” Life says, stepping closer to me, watching as Orion and Anton laugh and pa
“Oh, you did grow up handsome, didn’t you?” The Goddess of Life says, laughing lightly and slipping her hands over Anton’s face, turning it up to hers as she smiles. “I was so hoping you would.” He laughs a little in turn, shrugging, modest. I can’t help but grin, thinking that Life is understatin
“Her,” he whispers, his finger tracing over the veil that marks her as a nun – the highest level of dedication. “Please,” I whisper, my eyes locked on the image. “Help me understand.” “It’s…her,” Anton whispers before he sinks to his knees, moving his face closer to stare at the image. “She’s…mi
Anton glances down at me for a moment before turning his eyes back to the carvings on the wall, a frown taking his lips. “What are you talking about, June?” “Tony,” I whisper, a little bit of a frustrated growl in my word as I wrap my hands around his arm, pressing myself close to his side. “Is an
I nod, moving along with him, and together we walk slowly along the wall, studying the images drawn there. As we walk along the length of the wall, I at first assume that the images are simply decorative. The Goddess of Life is in most of them, doing magnificent things. I see some of her standing