LOGINCaspian:One Year LaterThe breeze was warmer today.Softer.Gentler in a way I hadn’t felt in years.More peaceful and more contenting, More calm and even happier.I stood at the edge of the gardens, the same gardens where so much had been taken from us, and so much had been given back, watching Ad
Valerie:The sun was rising over the horizon, golden streaks splitting the sky wide open, like a promise finally fulfilled.I stood at the highest point of the estate grounds, the wind tugging at my hair, the scent of fresh earth and morning dew wrapping around me like a cloak.It was over.Giovanni
“Impressive,” Giovanni called, his voice carrying easily across the clearing. His smile was cold, razor sharp. “I knew there was more to you, Valerie. I knew it from the second I laid eyes on you. I did say that I had more respect to you than I had for others, but it seems to me that I did not expec
Valerie:The boy's cries ripped through me like claws.My heart raced with each passing moment and I did my best not to harm that child. I did my best not to dirty my hands with his blood, to save him out of this, to get him out of this before the man played the game that I was not willing to handle
Caspian:The air was too still.It was the kind of stillness that came after the fight, when the blood had dried and the bodies were cleared, but before the real danger revealed itself.I didn’t like it. Not one damn bit.Because I knew that stillness was one that only told me that more danger was
Valerie:The earth still smelled of blood.I smelled of blood. People's blood the blood of our enemies the people who had dared invade our territory.The ground beneath our feet was turned upside down. We were going to need to fix that later, but I knew that the vines that worked their way from the
Valerie:I knew it had to be done.If I wanted him to be honest, then I knew that I was going to need to be honest with him. I knew that he was going to need to hear this from me if he found out from someone else or if he found out in another way or different method, he was going to flip. And I knew
Valerie:I didn’t know what had shifted exactly.Maybe it was time. Maybe it was the way things had played out. Or maybe it was the fact that for the first time in years, Caspian and I weren’t at war with each other. Not in words, not in glances. Not in silence.We were just… here. Together.It was
Caspian:The truth had a way of settling in like a slow burn, beneath the surface, buried in the muscle and marrow, waiting for the right moment to catch fire.Waiting for the right moment to burn everything that was around it, to ruin all that I believed that was true. To break me on the inside and
Valerie:The knock on the door was soft, but assertive.His scent hit me first and I knew that he came. I found out that it was a little too early for him to be coming to the villa. Especially after last night. I expected him to want his time alone, that he did not want me to approach him, that he m







