Ares's POV"How do you feel?" Vincent asks as I get off the podium after addressing the press regarding my absence. "Are you alright?"The only reason he has to ask me this is because everything feels surreal. Not because of the events exactly, but because I now have the responsibility to address th
“I don’t know,” I say as Heather puts down the tablet and bites her lip nervously. “But this can be good, right? Maybe he saw the allegations that he’s behind the attack on your family and he wants to address it.”“We can make him look even worse in the public eye,” Vincent puts in. “He’s not exactl
Valeria’s POVThe video keeps playing on the screen as everyone in the room bursts out into pure panic, but I stay rooted in my spot, the world completely frozen around me. Emmett and Edith are clutching my body, squeezing me against them as though they want to hide because of what’s going on.Meanw
Even Josie hasn’t contacted me. I’m sure she has seen the news, and I’m also quite certain that she’s scared to come to us now.And perhaps all of those Humans are right. None of us have the right to live in their world.But the thing is, who could have known?We were all careful. We were all cautio
Ares’s POVThe cop’s words ring in my mind, swirling around my head like a bunch of satellites, visible but not really making sense. For a moment I grow unsure if I heard it correctly, but then I see one of of the cops pulling out a handcuff.“That can’t be right,” I say to the one who announced the
The pause in the air tells me how hurt he is by this command. Still, he starts to beckon to the guards to leave with him, while I try my best to scatter the ranks of the police by kicking them, ramming into them and trying to disarm them.And as soon as my people are gone, I stop fighting.The cop w
Valeria’s POVHeather and Vincent exchange glances, but both of them nod. She drives a little faster, and with that, we are far away from the lights and flashes of los angeles.The forest is eerily quiet now. I take a deep breath and close my eyes, deciding to take this time to concentrate on findin
I take a deep breath. Part of me believes that they are right. But a bigger part of me just feels like it’s withering from the hate and the self blame.“Either way,” I start to say, looking at them both, “I have to make this right.”“And we are with you,” Heather assures me. “We will make this right
“We’ll see,” is all I manage to say, then I promptly end the mind-link with Heather.Before I can even tell Frank to go, he already takes initiative. He starts to drive into the neighborhood, stopping in front of the lab and getting out of the car at the same time that I climb out. His fists are cle
“You don’t have to come forward and be public about your existence like we are,” I declare. I have to admit, I had no idea about that clause in the treaty. But then again, Nikolai and Ares should have known. If we were indeed doing something we shouldn’t then they should have spoken up about it. “We
Valeria’s POVI’m rooted in my spot, staring at the man in front of me. But at this point I suppose I should stop calling him a man, because he’s so far from that.Everything about him screams something else. Even though my heart rate has slowed down I still feel like I can’t move. I just watch as h
“No, mommy.” Edith shakes her head. “He just looked at me. And when I stopped playing, he left. I’m just scared that he’s there watching me again. I really want to play but I’m worried about him. What if I go out there and he’s watching me again? What do I do?”I can’t stand to see her this scared w
Valeria’s POV“Mommy, can I stay with you for a while?” Edith asks as I drop her and Emmett back to school. She holds my hand as we approach the building, and even though I hold her back reassuringly, I have to admit that I’m curious about this sudden shy behavior.“What’s going on?” Emmett asks. “D
My vice mayor has conducted some meetings with the delegates of important groups in the city while I was gone, and he compiled everything into papers. I read the papers all morning and finally come up with laws that bind the Lycan and Human world together.The new laws are similar to the initial one
Ares’s POV“I don't know what happened,” Vincent says as soon as we're gathered in my study, including Heather and Valeria. “I don't know how he managed to do it. But his hearing is next week and I heard that the judge is considering setting him free on a bail.”I stare at the back wall, still tryin
“It’s not like that, Ares,” I say, but he just turns away from me. I feel guilty for shooting down his feelings but I have no choice. It just feels too absurd for me. I recognize that I might be in denial, but I don’t think Gianna has enough power to sway the Vampire Kingdom into doing her bidding.
Valeria’s POVI whip around to face Lavinia. But of course, she just rolls her eyes like this is some senseless babble. “You better keep your mate in check. I can’t have him wreaking havoc like this.”“What did you do?” I demand at her, but she just waves her hand airily.“You should ask him what he