LOGINAvaThe first thing I heard was a low, tired voice, reading words I couldn't quite catch yet. My body felt heavy under the sheets, pinning me to the bed. I could hear the steady rasp of my own breathing. My open eyes blinked dryly in the dim light.I opened my eyes wider. A small, pale room with a c
AvaDad let go of the shackle and sat back, his face relaxing from the concentration. He was quiet for a long moment. Then his eyes met mine."Baby," he said gently, "do you want to know what happened?"Something in his tone made my chest tighten. I had a feeling that this was a truth I wasn't ready
AvaHe stepped out of the blackness, edging closer, until I could finally see him. Unbelievable. He was so young, the age he was when...when he died. His warm brown eyes, both of them, looked at me with a fond smile.I stared, my mouth hanging open, unable to make a sound. My dad. Standing in front
LeviI settled into the chair by her bed and took her hand in mine, rubbing my thumb over the back of it. "Hey, Ava. It's Levi," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "I just talked to Sofia. We had some things to say to each other."I sat there, rubbing her hand, trying to find the words Maya and
LeviI sat with my father in his room, a week after Hilda's funeral. Some families had already packed up and left the pack after becoming human. Others had stayed, unsure of where else to go.My father wheezed beside me, the hiss of his oxygen tank an ever-present sound now. He was thinner, frail, h
MayaI zipped Sofia's dress as best I could with my good hand. The collar was tricky. I fiddled clumsily with the small metal fastening. "There, perfect," I said, releasing the dress and stepping back.Sofia blinked hard at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was pulled back in a neat bun. The dr
AvaI held Thorn at the surface for forty-five seconds before my control slipped.Falco was timing me on his phone. When I opened my eyes, gasping, he looked up from the screen and nodded once."Forty-five.""That's it?" I wiped sweat off my forehead even though the morning was cool. "Feels like lon
AvaI spent the rest of the day on my back, the way a beetle dies—arms and legs twisted, face pointed at the ceiling, unable to move unless I made myself. The light came through the blackout curtain in a single, sharp line and traced its way from my left foot up to my collarbone. I could feel it, bu
The world didn’t go slow, not like they say it does. It went fast, too fast, so that the moment Maya’s eyes met mine, I stood up and then immediately forgot how to breathe.Every part of me wanted to run to her. Every other part wanted to curl up and die.I got as far as the edge of the bed, then fr
SofiaThe waiting room was easily twice the size of my entire first apartment in the Marais, with ceilings so high even the crystal light fixtures couldn't quite reach down to where the people were.The floor was inlaid marble, some color between bone and the inside of an oyster shell, so perfectly







