JACQUELINE Blair was still staring at me like she could see the dream crawling under my skin. Her eyebrows were pulled together so tight there was a little line between them.“That is really messed up,” she said, shaking her head. “Like… nightmare messed up. I don’t even have words.”I let out a breath I had been holding since I woke up. “I know. It is the scariest thing I have ever experienced. I keep thinking about it and my whole body just—” I rubbed my arms. “It is like my skin remembers it.”She glanced at me, the corner of her mouth twitching like she wanted to say more but wasn’t sure if she should. “Do you think maybe it is just about… him leaving?”My stomach twisted. “Ezra?”“Yeah. The heartbreak. The pain. All of it piling up until your brain makes up something awful.”I shook my head. “It feels like more than that. It is not just sad. It is heavy. Like someone put a lid on me and I cannot move or scream or breathe. It does not feel like something my mind just made up. It
JACQUELINE I woke to the sound of someone whispering my name.My eyes blinked open to light that was too white and too bright. The first thing I saw was Blair’s face leaning over me, her eyebrows scrunched together so tightly they almost touched. Beside her was a nurse in pale blue scrubs, staring down at me like I was a puzzle she was trying to solve.For a moment, I didn’t move. My body felt heavy, and there was something strange about the way my arms rested. I turned my head, and that was when I noticed the straps. Thin, soft ones around my wrists. My legs too. I was strapped to a bed.A hospital bed.My heart gave one hard thud against my ribs. I looked from the straps to Blair, my voice breaking before I even finished the words.“What… what am I doing here?”Blair’s lips parted like she wanted to answer, but the nurse stepped in first, holding her hands out as if calming a wild animal.“Jacqueline, take a deep breath for me. You’re safe here, okay? Just take a breath.”I wasn’t
EZRAThe moment I opened my eyes, I knew something was wrong. I hadn't even realized when I fell asleep. Gyai, my sweet little Gyai, had been in my arms, and I'd been stroking her long silky hair. That was the last thing I remembered.I yawned and stretched as I wondered just how long I had slept. My body ached from lying still for too long, and when I shifted, the sheet slid against my bare skin.I reached out a hand to pull Gyai's body against mine, but all I touched was the cold bedsheet. The bed was empty.The place where she had been was cold, the faintest dent in the mattress the only sign that she had ever been there at all.My pulse quickened.I pushed myself up, the blankets pooling at my waist. For a second I told myself she was just in the next room. That she’d be back any moment. But the part of me that had lived three hundred years without her was already moving before I could talk myself down.My feet hit the floor. The wood was cool against my soles.Had we had some s
JACQUELINEI sat in the middle row, not too close to the front, not too far in the back. Close enough to pretend I was paying attention if Mr. Calloway’s eyes swept over us. Far enough to let my mind drift without feeling guilty about it.I told myself not to think about Mr. Phillips. Not to think about those gray eyes that always seemed to look right through you—past the smile, past the nod, straight into whatever truth you were hiding. But it was impossible not to think about him, not when this class brought back such vivid memories of him.His classes had been so quiet. You could hear the scratching of pens, the click of a shoe tapping on the floor, and the faint hum of the lights overhead. If a pin had dropped, it would have bounced once, twice, and everyone would have heard it.This was different.There was a low hum of conversation, students whispering, laughing softly under their breath as Mr. Calloway flipped through a thick paperback. He didn’t tell them to be quiet. He didn’
JACQUELINEThe first thing I felt was the headache. It throbbed behind my eyes, dull and slow like a warning bell that wouldn’t shut up. My mouth was dry, and when I sat up with a groan, my whole body felt like it had been in a fight. I blinked against the morning light trickling through the curtain, feeling groggy and sluggish.My body needed sleep and rest, but fear hadn't allowed it to have that. I sat at the edge of my bed, elbows resting on my knees, hands hanging loose as I thought again about the nightmare, wondering why I could possibly be dreaming about a thing like that. I stared at the floor. Nothing moved. The house was quiet. My breath was shallow, and I tried to calm the nervous energy jittering beneath my skin.Then I felt the soft pad of paws against the floor. The cat. She jumped onto the bed beside me, then rubbed her face against my arm before curling up against my thigh. Her fur was warm and soft. I reached down and stroked her slowly. She purred low and deep, a
ARAYAThe room was always the same. Always empty except for him.My boots clicked against the cold, polished stone as I made my way to the center of the room.And there, sitting in his throne of shadow, he waited. The man who had called me here.His presence filled the room before he even spoke. Every time, it felt like a weight pressing down on my chest. But I could not afford to show weakness.“Araya,” his voice rumbled, breaking the silence. “Tell me, what progress have we made?”I stood still, forcing myself to keep my composure. There was no room for uncertainty here. Not with him.“Everything is going as planned,” I said, my voice steady despite the tension coiling in my stomach. “Alpha Trades has overturned a century-old law. Servants, those who have always been bound to the pack, offering their time and bodies to those they serve, are now given a voice. Tades has given them that.”His silence lingered as he processed my words. I could feel his gaze, even though I couldn’t see