MasukThe crowd cheered, but none were louder than our excited children.Ivan’s POVIt was good of Claire to invite me to her wedding. I’d thought for a while that I might avoid the whole thing, but now that I was here, that I could be surrounded by the obvious love between the pair, I was glad that I had
Claire’s POVThe day of our wedding, I couldn’t stop looking at myself in the mirror. I was wearing a flowing white dress that Leo and Nova had helped me pick out. My hair was done up in a bun. I barely recognized myself, so put together and done up.“You look like a princess,” Nova said from nearby
Gideon’s POVI kissed Claire with my full heart, then held her close. She giggled, pressed into the safety of my arms.“We can talk about it now,” she said. “Or you could kiss me again. I liked that.”“I want to,” I told her truly. “I don’t want to stop kissing you. But after all this, I want to see
Claire’s POVI was dragged out of the trunk roughly by my arms, then shoved down into the dirt at Daphne’s feet.Quickly, I glanced around, but I didn’t really recognize where I was. A forest, but I had no idea which one. Tents were set up here and there and people I didn’t know milled about. This m
George glanced over, seeing me in the dim interior light.“He loves you,” he said.“He does.”“Do you love him, too?”“Yes,” I said. It came out easier than I thought it would. “Yes, I do,” I said again, to be sure. This time was just as easy.“Good,” George said. “Gideon is a good man, a brave and
Claire’s POVWe had a handful of hours before we needed to leave for the exchange. In that time, George had me fitted for body armor.“They will likely attempt to remove it from you,” he said. “But try to keep it on for as long as you can. I don’t know what kind of torture they will attempt, but thi
“I won’t,” I promised, though even as the words left my lips, I wasn’t sure I believed them. We hung up. I stared out at the moon for a long time after that, the pale light reflecting in my eyes. She’ll send someone, I thought grimly. It’s only a matter of time. --- The next morning, I woke be
“I only ever did what you asked me to,” she whispered. “You said you needed me to keep the peace. I did everything for you — everything — and this is what I got in return.” The lie she told sounded so funny it almost made me laugh. “You are talking about peace?” I spat. “You call the games you p
Claire’s POV The laughter of Daphne echoed from downstairs. It made me feel very uneasy, I knew I had to talk with someone about this. I stood just beyond the corridor’s shadow, the children clutching at my hands, their curious eyes flicking toward the grand foyer where Gideon and Justin had bee
“I will handle that if and when it comes.”I sensed it was already happening. “I want to help. There must be something we could do to ensure the children are safe for enough of a time for you to feel like you can rest.”She considered this for a moment, and then she told me, “There are traitors in y







