MariannaI wake with a start in a sun drenched room I find completely unfamiliar. My brain is a dead weight in my skull–heavy and hazy–like someone’s been sitting on it, pressing me deep into the paper thin, but incredibly stiff, mattress. New scents erupt all around me, but they’re not as sharp as they normally are. In fact, my senses feel… all tangled. I can’t feel my wolf at all. Instead, I just feel… odd. I try to lift my head off a thin pillow that smells sharply of laundry detergent but can’t. A dull ache grips my neck, forcing me to give up. I grip sheets that don’t feel familiar. Starched and stiff, they crinkle between my fingers, and I have a sudden, blurry memory of Skye’s birth in that hospital in Crescent Falls. After a wave of nausea passes, I grunt with the effort of sitting up, using my elbow to lift my upper body into position. Off-white walls and sparkling clean tile floors in a soft gray greet me along with the glare of the sun, where tremors of sound bleed into
BlakeKenna gazes down at Marianna, who blinks up at her, her eyes cloudy and unfocused when Kenna’s faint healing powers ripple through her, healing bruises and gashes. We moved her to the apartment upstairs–a random guest suite on the fourth floor–an hour ago. I’ve been bouncing between her room and the room where Skye is still fast asleep under the watchful eye of Leona, who hasn’t slept a wink tonight, and the first signs of morning are already shimmering through lace curtains lining the windows overlooking the city. Kenna clicks her tongue, silently motioning for Marianna to turn her head to the side so she can get a better look at the mark branded on her skin. It’s terribly inflamed–rotting, to be honest. Marianna winces deeply in pain when Kenna prods the swollen skin with her fingers. Maeve paces behind me with Fallon tucked against her shoulder. My cousin shakes her head, her face twisted in fury. The healer who discovered what they’re saying is a curse, a woman named Mine
BlakeI slowly place my fingertips against Dean’s forehead as he writhes, spasming as… his mind is torn to absolute shreds. It’s sloppy. Untrained. Memories sprint toward my powers, blooming into images that make my blood boil. Him hurting Marianna over and over again. The memories split and shatter before my eyes, but it’s not my doing. I pull out of his mind and rise, my eyes on the two women standing shellshocked at the top of the stairs. “Go to them. Go!” Soren barks, pinning an increasingly frantic Dean to the ground. I catch Soren’s gaze, and he nods, a silent comradery expanding in the space between us. He’s not going to let this man get back to his feet. I’m at the top of the stairs in an instant. Marianna is kneeling at Skye’s side, begging her to wake up, to stop, but Marianna’s words are slurred as blood drips from her swollen, split lips. Bruises fan over her cheekbones and both eyes, and her nose is definitely broken. I grip the doorframe so tight it cracks to stop mys
MariannaSkye’s asleep with her body curled around three of her favorite stuffed animals when I step into her room and shut off the nightlight casting stars all over her ceiling. A soft breeze whispers through thick curtains I quietly pull closed before tucking her in for what feels like the hundredth time. I’ve been on edge all day. It’s been… the worst day. First, Blake. Me shoving another wedge between us. Then, fighting with Mom… with Skye overhearing. After the fight I went down to the lake and tossed my phone into the water in a rage, then shifted, running over all of Moonrise until the sun began to set, and I slunk home to sit at the table with my mother and my daughter. My dinner was served cold. I deserved it. I gently close Skye’s bedroom door while the mark on my neck aches. It’s a deep pain that makes my throat and shoulders sore and is relentless, but also, unfortunately, familiar. Dean wasn’t faithful. I’m not sure he ever was. Our relationship was fast and furious and
BlakeVeiled Valley is shrouded in rain clouds as I walk through the castle, met by a welcoming gust of warm air. The spirit of the house is usually happy to see me compared to others. I’ve often wondered where it came from, why it chose this place to make its eternal home. It follows me through the castle while I make my way to the office Ryatt keeps here, despite being a few months into his retirement, which I think was Ella’s idea more than his. Sconces light my way, flickering on with each step I take up a winding stone staircase older than anything in Moonrise. Veiled Valley has been around since the dawn of time, I think. So long, in fact, I can’t see its origins in the tapestry weaving between the stars. A blond young man steps out of a room carrying a stack of books. He flinches when he sees me in the shadows, then sighs, shaking his head. Silver eyes meet mine in the flickering haze of amber-hued light as he greets me, saying, “Shit, Blake, I didn’t know you were going to
MariannaI’m not even out of the castle before my body succumbs to an immense wave of regret. I brace myself on the banister of a sweeping marble staircase curving down to the third floor, squeezing my eyes shut as I sink against the steps. What is wrong with me?I’m literally criminally insane, aren’t I? Blake is trying to help us, and I’m actively boxing him out, and for what? Unrequited feelings? A lingering ache of rejection I haven’t been able to dim? The idea that had he just… grown up, been a fucking man about this… I wouldn’t have been through what I had to go through the past four years. It should have been him by my side. It should have been his mark on my neck. My phone buzzes repeatedly. My body curls with dread as I hang my head between my knees, resisting the urge to scream in frustration. Female voices drift toward me from the hallway below. I lift my head as a trio of women in strange outfits walk past the base of the stairs. Their pants are made of what looks lik