LOGINI'm so tired.I can still feel their eyes as I enter Talon’s room and peel off my two-day-old uniform.I don't know if their gazes make me feel special or strange. With a gasp, I take in Talon’s enormous bathroom and instantly forget about the boy’s stares. Pristine tiles and an actual bathtub fill the space. I peek at his shower items and find all sorts of fancy shampoos in glass bottles, soaps carved in flowery shapes that smell heavily of his lavender. I pick one up and decide I wouldn't mind smelling like Talon. But the thing that gets me is a small, pink heart-shaped soap bar, sitting alone under a glass soap dish. I know I probably shouldn't touch it, but I can't help peeking and taking a whiff. I gasp. Cinnamon and Strawberry. Surely he didn't… I snap the case shut, warmth spreading through me. Would he get me something I may never even use? I turn on the shower, and I'm instantly hit with a warm stream of water. It's like the shower knew exactly what I wanted. No way
By the time the plan is set in stone, night is already falling, and everyone decided it's best we go home. Before Liana gets out of the Crestridge compound, I grasp her hand. So much nonsense has gone down, and now I feel a maternal instinct to leave her out of it. “You know you don't have to come with us, right?” I pull her closer gently. She sets her lips in a hard line, “I think I owe it to Axel no matter how much of an ass he’s been. He saved my life.” She pauses, assessing me. “And I guess I owe it to you too.” My brain racks for what she could possibly owe me, “I’ve not really given you anything.” Liana shakes her head. “Don’t say that. You gave me a friend. I've never really met a girl I liked as much as you, Tiny. I'm not going to let you go now because some monster wants to lay claim to you.” “Lay claim is a very polite way of saying he wants to keep me as his own.” “Whatever the case may be. You're mine. You're ours.” She gestures to the CrestRidge House, stand
Alex stares. Axel’s flesh and blood Alex, not some fake playing a prank, but the real Parker Princess. “How did you… How are you… You want to… huh?” My words can’t even mesh together and form a coherent sentence. Maybe I really did fail that English test. She comes fully into view, her lithe frame so different from her brother’s, but still the similarities between them are uncanny. I’m not sure if I want to pull her in or find the nearest kitchen knife to defend myself. “I said maybe I can help you,” she repeats, confirming I’m not mad. “If Clarissa will not take you to Nester, I will.” My knees nearly give way again. Talon gently pulls me behind him, his hazel eyes narrowed. “You’re Axel’s sister?” “Yes, and I want to help my brother’s friends.” Which only confuses me further. Maybe I’d have preferred it if she walked in here knife in hand. At least that’d have made sense. With a lurch, Clarissa jerks toward her, as if she’s going to hit Alex, but the other girl casts her a ha
I've fiddled with my mother’s ring more times in the last 2 days than I've done in 20 years.Everything is coming apart fast. I love fast. I crave it, but this is something else entirely.“You look awful,” Clarissa says beside me.“It's nice to see you too, Clary,” I lie. I can't genuinely remember the last time I felt happy or grateful to be in the same room as her.“I didn't mean it insultingly, Ryker. I mean you look awful, sick. Since our encounter with John, you’ve seemed so… pale.”I face her, surprised to see her assessing me sincerely.The truth is, I have felt a little off, like there’s a constant cold waving through me, but it's not like after my fight with John things just went back to normal. It's been a rough few days. When all this is over, I'm sure I'll be able to take a nap, grab a burger, and do anything to get my familiar glow back.I contemplate telling her the truth, and I decide on simply saying, “I've just been a little chilly.”She looks at me a moment longer, l
Olivia collapses in my arms. “What did you say to her?” I snap, glaring at Clarissa. She throws her hands up, “Why do you think I had something to do with it?” A slow throbbing starts in my head. I can't do this today, not with Clarissa, not with anyone. I carry Olivia to my room, laying her on my bed and sitting at the edge. I feel a little guilty that I'm grateful she’s passed out. At least, for now, I don't have to worry too much about the bet, and I can fix my mind on every other fucked up thing going on. I dial my dad again. And again. And again. I dial him till my phone screen blurs with frustrated tears. Where the hell could he be? As a final Hail Mary, I call the last person on earth who would want to talk to me right now After a few rings, Ricklan’s gruff voice deadpans, “Hunter?” I blow out a breath, running a hand through my hair. “Hey, Uncle Rick.” “I don't have time to talk to you,” he pauses, “unless this has something to do with Olivia?” I turn to her, look
After a torturous minute of silence, Clarissa pipes up, and for the first time in my life, I’m glad to hear her voice. “Before we die here of quiet, does anyone know how we’re going to get to Axel?” “Nope,” Ryker says defeatedly. “No clue,” Talon mutters quietly. Clarissa blinks at them. “Okay, so you two are useless.” She turns to Liana, tapping her head, “and I doubt you’ve got much going up there.” Liana turns as red as her hair. “I will kill you.” Clarissa ignores her and faces me. It’s odd to be stared at by her with curiosity, not hatred. “That leaves you, magic woman. Got any golden tricks up your sleeve?” For some reason, I’m oddly offended. I fold my hands and insist, “I’m not a magician.” “Whatever you say, Little Rose.” I perk up. “What the hell does that thing mean?” Clarissa rolls her wrist noncommittally. “Oh, I don’t know… something to do with roses being rare around here, blah blah blah. Nester calls all his lovers that.” I think bile nearly chokes me to dea
“They’re back!” Talon yells, standing at attention. Axel hurdles over the barrier, and I don’t know if he jumps wrong or the exhaustion from what just happened to him catches up, but he falls. Rather than taking me down with him, he expertly flips on his back, holding me to his body. Our chests h
It’s easy to forget just how terrifying Axel is when you’re on his good side. But now he’s looking at me with a level of betrayal that has me backing away, crunching gravel beneath my boots as I take step after step back. “You were going to kill me?” he mumbles, quietly, as if he’s still proces
My sister is dead. My sister died the same day my mum died. The same day my house burnt down. The same day… The same day she was kidnapped, but I never actually saw her get murdered. I couldn’t forget those eyes if I wanted to. They’re still the same almond shape. The same exact silver-grey a
For a horrible second, I think Axel is going to say yes. Everest planned this: He knew the boys would come. He wanted to get the three of us alone so Axel could trade me away. But Axel barks, “You must be out of your fucking mind if you think I’m handing her to you.” “Just a month ago that was y







