There were no others. Another bloody setup, this was, I thought, folding my arms across my chest, glaring at Adam. "What is this?"Only fire burned out of the wood—a tiny flicker that couldn't even pass for a bonfire—in the middle of a cleared-out area, which was in the middle of a grassland. I wouldn't be surprised if it was made possible tonight with the use of magic. It was just too perfect a circle.This wasn't good. I declared again. The fewer the people, the less chance of me escaping without being seen. What to do? I hissed and turned away from him, when I got no response, toward the path where we had followed to this place, but Naomi's hands found me then, wrapping themselves around my waist. "Please stay," She whispered, not that her words were any secret to those werewolfish ears around us.For her, I stayed. Not without letting out a curse, though, to make sure they were aware that I hated the bullshit—the audacity of them all to call me into this gathering.It better be w
Eighteen minutes more. I mused, watching the clock. Eighteen minutes until I sneaked out of the house and into the forest.I looked at the backpack lying idly on the bed beside me. I had everything arranged for this little journey—prepared for whatever consequences might happen along the way. There were even snacks—because a woman could never be caught hungry, right? But I was tired of sitting and waiting. It wasn’t a surprise then, when El slipped into my mind and reminded me of the Queen’s letter and her impossible request. Maybe I should send her a reply now, I concluded, a furrow marring my forehead. I shouldn’t have to meet her physically. A large smile broke out on my lips as the mystical process of ensuring the communication took shape in my mind. I love magic! With the picture in my head—and with El’s help—I visualized the possible description of the Queen, her hands; while my hands reached for a paper and pen. Without much ado, I wrote my answer—I won’t be taking up the
By the time I was done narrating the episode of my encounter with the strange witch in the forest, my adoptive parents were sure it was anything but a joke; if the looks on their faces were anything to go by. “It’s not a joke!” Laura stated vehemently. Well, there went my suggestion of it being a joke. “And can’t you see? It’s what we have been telling you… to stay away from those twins and their wicked family?” She continued, her hands clasped while her feet tapped on the floor.Diana and I exhaled at the same time. We had seen this coming. “Mother, is there really a way to avoid them? In case you’ve forgotten, I take classes with the Queen. Exposing her pettiness to the people hadn’t been enough to stop it; if anything, she was tasked to take care of me adequately in case I’m the next in line for the throne…” A pause, where I swallowed the bitter pill; I didn’t think I would ever get used to the idea of being next in line to the throne just because I had white hair. For all the
“Where are you two coming from at this time of the night?” A significant pause followed. “Or rather, where have you two been since morning?” Peter asked immediately after Diana and I stepped into the compound. It turned out he had been waiting by the wooden gates. At first, Diana and I exchanged glances, both of us wondering if it was a good idea to talk about the cave and how it had deceived us. Rachel should have told us that the cave had a slower time clock before getting us in there! Diana laughed and shook her head, as though she could see what was going on in my head. “I see you both are still having fun. Follow me,” Peter commanded before heading in the direction of the sitting room. He never looked back to see if we were following him. Well, we had no choice in that, really. Peter was calmer, but his anger wasn’t something I would want to see every day. “Come on, let’s go before mother joins him to burn our hairs off, just with their eyes,” I chimed, making Diana laugh
The darkness-enshrouded witch took her time before answering. Darkness enshrouded because I couldn’t see any clothing material on the figure floating in the air a couple of feet away from us. Only darkness. Pulsing darkness from her head to toe—bodily features I couldn’t even see. The darkness formed a cloak around her, even making a hood over her head and boots around her legs. You just couldn’t see any of her bodily features, not even her eyes. From our perspective, she was looking at the floor, if the inclination of the hood was any indication, but I knew she was staring right at me.I was tempted to take my phone from my pocket and check the time, but I was slightly afraid that a single movement might alter this moment. I could always check the time later. Hopefully, Laura and Peter wouldn’t have my head when I finally came back with Diana.“Are you not going to speak?” This time it was Raul who spoke. I was not sure what gave him the confidence since I could still smell his s
I was more than surprised to see that the sky was dark when we emerged from the cave. Shock seemed too mild a word; if there were a term more expressive than shock, I would gladly use it. What the hell! Or perhaps, What in the heavens! Beside and behind me, my friends all stood with their jaws dropped—well, except for Rachel and Raul. "Can you see why I was hurrying us out of the library? It's already late outside," Rachel stated matter-of-factly, as if that explained why it was night already when we had entered the cave at what felt like nine a.m. Where had the hours gone? We had spent no more than two hours inside! Our confusion must have shown on our faces because Raul raised a placating hand, as if expecting us to attack him if he didn't speak. Maybe we would have. "Time runs slower in the cave. Way slower." It certainly hadn't felt that way while we were in there. "How did you two keep track of the time, then?" I asked, needing to know. If I was going to return to that p