*Isla*“Lift the curse?”I can’t help but repeat the phrase Commander Pepelos has just said to me. Confusion washes over me, not for the first time. “What are you talking about?” I ask him. “How do you know all of this about Maatua?”He shakes his head. “I don’t think this is the right place to discuss this, Your Highness. Why don’t we go inside, into your private chambers, and we can discuss it there.”“My private chambers?” Nothing he has said makes the statement sound suggestive at all, but I am wondering what people will think if they find out I have some strange man in my room, not a half an hour after Maddox has left the castle to go find out what is happening with the war.“Or the library. Whatever room you think is most secure.” He walks to the exterior door and pulls it open, gesturing for me to walk inside first.I do and nod my thanks, and the two of us are relatively quiet as we walk down the hallway.I am leading him to my room. Not on purpose, but I’m considering everyth
*Maddox*The drive to Cliff’s Edge pack will take several hours. If so many of the packs between our territory and Alpha Charlton are hostile right now, it’s best if we take our troops around them. The last thing I want to do is give the impression that we might be moving in, planning an invasion, because some of these packs have been rumored to be aligned with Beach Front.As we meander through the countryside, my long convo of military vehicles following along in parade order, my mind goes back to the information I’ve gotten from my commanders in the field. Both Commander Vember and Commander Givens have supplied me with plenty of information. I need to make sure that my alliances are strong in the few packs that are closer to Beach Front that might still might be willing to help me.“We are expected by Alpha Charlton, but he is a bit leery of our arrival,” Seth says from his seat next to me in the second row in the SUV. “He’s afraid that the other packs in the area might decide to
*Maddox*Alpha Charlton hasn’t changed that much since the last time I saw him—at the funeral.He does have bags under his eyes that were not there before, back when he had no reason to lie awake at night and stare at the ceiling, asking why.Back when we were all happy and full of light and hope.I can tell when he shakes my hand he does so with reservations, and I can’t blame him. He still has unanswered questions, as do I. But from his perspective, someone who wasn’t there when everything happened, he is not only relying on what he knows of me but the rumors and whispers that began coming out of the castle right after the incident, whispers that continue to come from the castle still.I’ve never blamed him for not fully trusting my side of the story. I still have moments when I don’t trust it myself after all.Now, as he welcomes me back into his home, I am reminded of the feeling of excitement I had the last time I stood in the ballroom, waiting.Waiting for her.I follow a servan
*Maddox*Trying to concentrate on the discussion around me is difficult when I’m standing in this particular room—this ballroom. I have several Alphas in front of me mentioning what it is that they need from me in order to be confident enough to send warriors to support our cause, and all I keep thinking about is the first time I was here.“You know, if you really want all of us to come in on your side, there’s one thing that would do it for certain,” one of the younger Alphas says. He’s in his early thirties, and apparently he’s had enough to drink that he’s a little loose-lipped because the other Alphas try to get him to shush. But Alpha Evan will not yield.“What’s that?” I ask him.“Simple. Give our daughters a chance.” Evan takes another swig of his champagne, and some of the other Alphas clear their throats or shuffle their feet. It’s a sign to me that they agree with whatever he is getting at, though they don’t want to vocalize it as has.“Your daughter?” I ask, confused. I kno
*Maddox*“What the fuck?”I can’t believe what I am seeing. I feel like I’ve been transported back in time. I blink a few times, trying to figure out if what I’m looking at is real.There are subtle differences. I can see them even at a distance. She’s a little shorter, a little thinner, not as muscular that is. Her hair is a slightly different shade of red, and her eyes are not quite the same shade as her cousins.But from my perspective, this woman looks as near to my dead wife as anything I’ve ever seen.And now I know what it is that Alpha Jason wants to speak to me about.And I know what it is that Alpha Charlton was thinking when he planned this ball.Fury builds up within me, and I squeeze my hand so tight, if I was still holding the glass, it would’ve broken. Instead, I take a deep breath, grab a glass off a tray held by a passing servant, down it, turn around, and walk right out of the ballroom, headed back to my room.I hear people shouting my name as I walk out, but I don’t
*Maddox*Taking hold of Trinity’s wrist, I force her to let go of the knife. It falls from her grasp, and I catch it with my other hand, ready to turn it on her.“Whoa! Whoa!” she says. “I wasn’t trying to stab you, Your Highness!” she tells me. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I was only trying to show you the blade.”Her eyes are wide, and she seems genuinely scared. Perhaps she’s even telling me the truth.But I don’t know that for certain. Why would anyone pull a knife on me in the dark in a garden if they didn’t intend to stab me with it?I can feel her entire body trembling beneath my hands, though, and I am starting to think perhaps she is telling me the truth.It might not make any sense, but I actually believe her. Perhaps her father had told her to go ahead and try to kill me now, so she wanted to be able to say that she did try but I foiled her.It would make more sense for her to have waited, though. Get to know me better. Catch me off guard. Even see if there
*Isla*Sleeping had been nearly impossible. I’d tossed and turned for much of the night, not sure how to proceed with my alleged cousin, Antony Moon a.k.a. Commander Pepelos. I kept thinking about his mother, how awful it must’ve been for my Aunt Mary knowing that her own husband had killed her to strengthen her powers, how she’d tried to stay loyal to him until he started a war, making my family leave the island, and so many people died.Then… apparently, my aunt had something to do with the awful earthquake that rocked the island and made it uninhabitable for many people.And then there is the curse….Antony seems to think that I can somehow break that curse, and that I’m the only one who can do it, but I have no idea why he thinks that or how I would even begin to do it.I’m sure he will use my uncertainty about my baby to try and manipulate that situation. He will do whatever he can to get me to the island, and then, who knows what might happen?Mystica is right when she says I sh
*Maddox*Breakfast is awkward. Sitting across the table from Alpha Charlton and Alpha Jason, I can’t help but think about everything Trinity told me the night before. I want to kill both of them, but I must abstain from doing so. After all, at the moment, they are pretending to want to be on my side. Both of them are talking like they want me to win the war, as if they are prepared to help.But if what Trinity told me is the truth, that means it will come at a price. I am eating my eggs, waiting for one of them to bring up the topic of a queen consort again. Since all of the other Alphas are having breakfast elsewhere, and this is just Alpha Charlton, his extended family, Seth, and I, no one has mentioned it yet.That doesn’t stop Jason from bringing up another touchy subject. “I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to warn you last night,” he begins, broaching the subject carefully. “Trinity has certainly begun to look a lot like her older cousin these past years.”I am not sure how I’m mea
BrieI open my eyes as I’m falling through thin air. I don’t even have time to scream before my body drops into water. Deep, rough water that drags me under the second I suck in a salty breath. I flail against the waves, trying to find the surface, but the undercurrent drags me down again, pulling me by my dress and tossing me upside down. My head hits something hard, and I screech, but the sound is empty. I suck in water, choking, and realize quite suddenly that I’m drowning. I go as still as possible, using the last of my energy to start moving with the current instead of against it, which turns out to be the best idea I’ve ever had, especially under duress. I open my eyes underwater, staring down at the shallows. It’s sunny. Daytime. And below, seaweed waves between large, gray rocks. Pockets of sunshine dance through the water, illuminating seashells in shades I’ve never seen before. Another wave crashes over the top of me, sending me rolling into even shallower water, and fina
MaeveCole and Misty have a beautiful suburban home in Shadowcrest. It’s always the same–always smells like freshly baked cookies and the flowers she keeps in vases all over the house. Tonight, as my toes brush the ground, and my powers funnel back into my body, it smells like… popcorn. “You pig! You’re not going to eat all of that.” Josie’s voice, so similar to her mother’s, drifts down the hallway. I landed in the foyer, which is dark, soft moonlight drifting in through the windows and casting the stairs and framed photos of the family in silver shadows. “If you wanted more, you should have added it to the order,” Adrian argues then yelps after a smacking sound reverberates toward me in the gloom. “Give me one of your tacos–”“Or what?”“I’ll tell Mom.”“She’s in Eastonia, dumbass. Hey!” A scuffle ensures. I have two seconds to jump into the shadow of Misty’s study just off the foyer when Cole walks down the stairs, still wearing his hospital scrubs. The sound of a shower running
LoganRyatt and Evander walk out of sight across the bridge connecting the barracks to the main streets of the city. I look out of my old bedroom window at the sunny glare casting shadows over the valley. The shadows move as the clouds dart across the sky toward the castle, toward my wife, who I’d much rather be with right now than here. I… I don’t have anything to pack. Anything that meant anything to me–my laptop, my fucking glasses–were lost in the shipwreck. I have the clothes on my back, and even those were borrowed from who-knows-where, left on the dresser in Brie’s bedroom by the ghost that haunts her house. She’s all I have, and it’s not like I can pack her in my duffle bag and take her with me. I crank open the window to let in some fresh air to cut through the overwhelmingly male smell of the barracks. I turn to my empty duffle bag with a sigh, bracing my hands on either side of it on the bed, and hang my head, but a whoosh of air rushes out behind me, and I turn in time
BrieThe moment my bedroom door closes behind us, Logan’s mouth is on mine. The lock slides into place with a soft click, and an even softer groan leaves his mouth when I reach up to run my fingers through his damp curls. He smells like rain and leather. Like the promise of warmth and comfort through another stormy night. And now this man–this loud, obnoxious, opinionated man… he’s mine. He presses a kiss to the ring he bought today on a whim. It’s a simple band of gold–that’s it. “I'll give you a better one when I return,” he promises, kissing the palm of my hand before his lips find mine again. “A ring with a diamond the old gods can see from the heavens.”“I don’t care about that.” I giggle as his hands glide down my sides, pulling me close. Outside, thunder booms, the room lighting in ribbons of blue as lightning splits the clouds, but in here, it’s warm. It’s private. It’s just us. He removes my cloak. It falls to the ground in a heap at my feet. He’s careful with the dress,
MaeveBrie is… radiant. She glows in her simple white dress of lace and satin, her hair falling loose over her back and shoulders as Logan slowly, tenderly, lowers the hood of her dark blue cloak. The temple is quiet and dim, moonlight flooding the altar. Logan knits his fingers in Brie’s and brings her knuckles to his lips, pressing a kiss against them. They’re bathed in silver, the windows behind them dancing in starlight. It’s beautiful, really. It’s what I envisioned for her, one day, what I thought would be… years from now. I watch my sister–the person I love the most in all of the world–intertwine her soul with someone else, forcing myself to unravel the ribbons binding my heart to hers. She doesn’t belong to me anymore. Logan looks at her as they kneel before the priestess in her silver robes. They lean into each other like being inches away is too far apart. And the look on his face as he brushes his lips over her temple… he loves her. He’s devoted–body, and soul. My heart
Brie“Tonight?”“Yes, tonight.”“How?” I laugh, taking a step away from him. “We-we can’t.”“We can,” he says breathlessly, shaking his head. “The temple stays open all night. We’d just need to find a priestess.”“We’d need a witness,” I whisper as the cogs in my mind start turning. “I’d need a dress–”“I’d marry you like this,” he says, taking my hands. “But please, for the love of the Goddess, marry me before I go.”I blink up at Logan, my heart swelling and squeezing simultaneously. There’s still a whisper in my mind that warns me that he could change his mind, that he can’t really want me, but I… banish it, giving myself to him fully. “Are you sure?” I ask, scanning his eyes. “I’ve never been more sure of anything. I want you to be my wife, Brie.”“I’m already your mate.”“It’s not enough.” He brushes my hair out of my face and kisses me, but a rush of air alerts us to a visitor making their way up the stairs to the tower. I pull away as a soft knock sounds on the door. Neither
BrieLogan steps into my dad’s office. All eyes turn to him as he scans the men–Sydney, Grandpa Ryatt, my father, a few others that serve both my father and grandfather as generals, captains, and commanders. Logan’s eyes are like polished, imperfect emeralds as he eyes my grandpa wearily, like he’s not entirely sure he understands what Ryatt just said to everyone in the room. “Brie, you don’t need to be here for this,” Aviva whispers behind me, knitting her fingers in mine. But Logan growls, “She stays.”A silent, heavy, creeping hint of tension scatters around the room. The entire castle would explode if someone lit a match right now, I’m sure. My spine tingles as Logan turns to Ryatt and says, calmly despite the bite in his voice, “There’s nothing in Emberfyll.”“Quite the contrary,” my grandfather replies immediately, rounding my father’s desk, his shadow powers simmering and coiling around his fingers, “Debris has been washing up on the southern shore of Tarsian for decades now.
LoganBrie looks exhausted, but otherwise… happy, thank the Goddess, as she sits between her mother and Misty, listening to their conversation and picking at a sandwich. I lean my elbows on the table across the room where I’m sitting in silence, alone, still waiting for my mind to catch up with my body after Maeve jumped with us from the middle of the ocean to Veiled Valley. A shadow moves into view, crossing through the doorway before a shadow breaches the informal living area. Ryan looks around before turning the corner, beelining for me, waving away several rushed questions coming from the group of women on the couches nearby. He braces his hands on the table beside me, leaning down to whisper into my ear, “I need to speak to you in private before Ryatt returns. Can you come with me?”I glance at Brie, who’s watching us with her brows furrowed in worry. I suck my teeth before nodding, and Ryan moves back a step so I can stand. Brie and I have been using the mind-link as much as
BrieI pull the stool out from under my vanity, sinking down and facing Blake. I’m older than him by a few months. We’ve always been close, even when we were younger, and he tended to want to play rowdy boy games with Aris. He always sat quietly and played tea-party with me, though, without fail. He’s also the pariah of the family and knows it. His powers rival Ryatt’s, which is a terrifying thought. In fact, I often question who’s more powerful–him or Maeve? But that’s not a fair question at the moment, given that Maeve’s powers aren’t even fully developed yet. Blake, however… he exudes energy that makes my skin tingle as he sits in my desk chair, resting his elbows on his knees. “You found us, didn’t you?” He nods, a flash of guilt darkening his irises. “I admit I didn’t even look until Maeve cornered me. She felt you, she said. Sensed your arrival back in our waters.”I wonder how much Logan told the family. Probably everything, I’m sure. That man can talk, and I love that abou