LOGINAlex“Well, shit,” Mark, the engineering department head grumbles, crouching to get a better view. He braces his hands on his hips while huddled around the same screen I’m sharing with Toby. He’s been knocking his head on the ceiling of this tunnel all evening, but that has more to do with his height and less to do with the already overly cramped quarters we’re sharing. He’s from the Deadlands and built like it. Burly and broad, he stands several inches taller than me, and I’m taller than most men on campus, but he has at least sixty pounds or more on me, and it shows. They breed them big in the Deadlands, supposedly. Toby’s words; not mine. “Shit,” Toby parrots, shaking his head as the drill several hundred feet below us whirls and kicks up liquid sediment. “I wasn’t expecting a water pocket.” I curse under my breath, rolling my neck to try to alleviate some of the tension. We’ve been at it all day long. Drilling, drilling, and drilling some more–trying to secure a perimeter around
SkyeI’ve been in the southern Allied Kingdoms–mostly Moonrise–for a little over a week but haven’t faced my father yet. I anticipated that. I knew he’d be busy helping make arrangements for Isaac and Maddy with my grandpa Sydney. What I didn’t anticipate is this. Ryatt stares at me from across the coffee table in the castle in Crescent Falls. He’s dressed in his usual black but looks like a modern man in a finely fitted black suit and tie compared to his cape and rugged dark ensembles I’m used to seeing him wear in Eastonia. He hasn’t blinked in what I’m sure is several minutes. His acute, quicksilver stare bores holes in my reserve, but I refuse to be the one to fold and start the conversation he wants to have. After several days of travel on the royal train, forced to witness the epic fights between Fallon, Naomi, and Maeve, I could sit here in silence and play this game with him for hours. Family members, both closely and distantly related, filter in and out of the room, but no
Alex Skye has been gone for four days when I knock on the door to President Alloway’s office. Her voice is pinched when she mutters, “Come in,” but her eyes light up the second I open the door and step inside. “Dr. Scarlett. I wasn’t expecting you, but I’m happy to see you.” She rises and motions for me to sit in one of the armchairs in front of her desk. I shake my head. “I won’t be here long.”“I’ve been meaning to reach out,” she says, easing back into her chair while I lean a shoulder on her office door to close it, remaining there, taking in the slate gray walls dappled with diplomas, certifications, and pictures. She tucks her bright white, stick straight hair behind her ears and clears her throat, closing her laptop. “Dean Kanten hasn’t been responding thoroughly to my inquiries into the biology department and how he plans to move forward, safety-wise, after Laney’s death.”“That does not surprise me.”She blinks and then motions again for me to sit down. This time, I accept
SkyeFallon closes her bedroom door with a soft click and glides across the room to shut the curtains. She moves with the practiced grace of the princess she is–Maeve’s heir who will one day be Queen of Eastonia–and she looks like it, walks, and talks like it as well. But I know Fallon better than most. She’s an enigma–soft and stoic on the outside, but on the inside?She’s the most animated, opinionated woman I’ve ever known. “You cannot tell that bitch Naomi I’m telling you this.”“Your sister Naomi?” I arch a brow, chuckling, and she rolls her eyes to the gilded ceiling. “We’ve been on the outs recently.”“Over what?” I sink onto the edge of her rather regal bed. I’ve always liked Fallon. She’s six years younger than me but an old soul at heart, and for a while, it was just the three of us–her, Kieran, and me. We also grew up in Moonrise together, and that gave us a rather close bond. She was incredibly angry when I announced I’d be staying in Lunaria for the foreseeable future.
SkyeAn hour later, in the hazy, blue glow of morning, the stars are still on full display like always, but at their dimmest now. Alex follows me across the hallway to my condo. The university is at a standstill, and the tension pours through the thick concrete walls. I’m used to silence, but this is something else entirely. “Can you water my plants while I’m gone?” I ask with a touch of hesitation, looking up at him through my lashes while he leads the way to the loft where I mentioned I keep a suitcase. I watch his shoulder shrug through his soft gray shirt. His hair is mussed from lying in bed with me for the better part of an hour, and he radiates a new kind of warmth that’s hard to put into words. Alex is perplexing, but I knew that. Now, however? After being in the throes of passion with him? Having him touch me? It’s almost like his mind is split into factions all the time–hyper-focused on preservation. Now, he’s not wearing his usual masks. He’s looser, freer, and shockingl
Alex13 Years Ago…Emma grabs my trembling hands, turning them over to check for injuries I already know aren’t there. Beyond the blood-splattered stone walls, another battle rages, an endless swarm of bodies against the glow of torches and bonfires dappled over the countryside. Red velvet and tarnished armor scatter at my feet while my cousin sucks in a breath, her ocean blue eyes meeting mine. “What have you done?”“Go to the nearest clinic outpost and find a way home to Crimson Peak,” I urge, my voice trembling. Below, at our feet, dark, almost black blood pools around my shoes, spreading toward Emma’s boots. Tangles of platinum hair float in a crimson current.“Alex–”“Go. Now.” I grip her shoulders, squeezing tight, leaving bloody prints on her healer uniform. “Alex? Alex, what have you done!” Emma sobs as I push her out of the puddle of blood, her boots leaving sticky tracks across uneven cobblestone. An ancient temple in horrendous disrepair rises around us, blocking the rain
MistyBefore my body even catches up to itself, Mom has her arms around me, pulling me into the tightest hug possible as Sarah’s powers shudder away, falling like ash that covers the ornate red carpet in one of the upper wings of Aunt Ella’s palace in Moonrise. Golden finishes blur my vision. My s
MistyCole groans against my neck as I reach between, running my hand down his chest to the deep V of the muscles of his waist. He kisses me again, hungerly this time, his tongue sweeping over mine in a slow dance that has sparkles of pleasure rippling over my skin. I sigh against his mouth as he g
AvivaTo say I’m relieved to be home is an understatement. Our group is greeted with enthusiasm, especially after it’s revealed that we snagged enough deer and elk to see us through nearly the entire winter, and a huge banquet is held in celebration. Notably absent from the dinner is Misty. Lexa
AvivaThe last time we were in Moonrise was for Lexa’s birth. Four months have passed in a blur, which I assume is normal when you have a baby for the first time. Pile on our responsibilities as Alpha and Luna of Silverhide, let alone the rulers of all the Deadlands, an







