LOGIN“Do you remember what he looked like?”“It’s all a blur. Sorry.”I nodded slowly, looking around again. I spotted Max on the other side of the yard, returning to his work with a group of other males.“What’s the labor for?” I asked. “Are we building something?”“We think it’s for an army. The stone
Natalia’s POVBy the end of the first hour, my shoulders were burning and my palms had gone from sore to numb. The rock I’d been assigned to break with a heavy pickaxe was dense and black, and I was expected to break it into small pieces, then place them on a large wagon. One of those awful gray thi
A pair of figures crossed our path as we walked across the roadway. We fell into step behind them naturally, matching their pace. Neither of them looked back.The water trough was near the center of the settlement. I spotted a short line of people standing in front of it. It wasn’t running water, bu
Natalia’s POVI jerked awake with a gasp.The red sky was the same as it always was. Max was curled on his side a few feet away, still asleep, his chest rising and falling slowly. Nothing had moved. Nothing had changed.I pressed my hand flat against the ground and steadied my breathing.The vision
Natalia’s POVThe report came back the following morning. I’d hardly slept that night, which was strange for me; usually, sleep came quickly and efficiently, serving purely as a means to regain my energy for another day of hard work.But last night, I kept tossing and turning. That pull in my chest
“It’s no use!” I heard her voice call after me. “He’s already gone, you stupid bitch! He’s not who you think he is anymore! You’ll all die here!”Her words struck me somewhere deep and painful, but I kept running. We didn’t stop until the hovel was well out of sight. Only then, once we were certain
“Natalia!” Damon’s voice cut through the chaos. A moment later, the weight was lifted off of me, and Damon’s worried face appeared above mine. “Are you hurt?”I cradled my wrist to my chest, hissing through clenched teeth. “My wrist. I think it’s broken.”Without hesitation, Damon scooped me up into
Was he really trying to mark me, I wondered? In the moment, it had certainly felt like it.But Andrei had never marked me during our years of marriage. I doubted he would want to now, not after everything that had happened. If he was contemplating it, it was likely just the effects of the full moon.
The fight was brutal but surprisingly coordinated. Despite the tension of the past few weeks, it seemed the training had paid off after all—the three of us moved together seamlessly, covering each other’s flanks, herding the rogues into vulnerable positions. Between the three of us, the rogues were
Natalia & AndreiNataliaI woke to the coppery smell of blood and the acrid scent of old sweat. My head was pounding like someone had taken a sledgehammer to my skull. The ground beneath me was made of hard-packed dirt, and when I tried to move, metal cuffs bit into my wrists, chaining me to what fe







