LOGINLizabella“Elara! Elara, wait!” Kael’s voice rang out behind me, but I sped up instead, my slippers slapping against the marble as I hurried down the corridor.My heart hammered with a mixture of anger and confusion, the name ‘Lizabella’ still echoing in my skull like a half-remembered song as his footsteps quickened behind me. Before I could round the next corner, his hand shot out, fingers closing around my upper arm. He spun me around with surprising strength, pulling me against his chest so tightly I could feel the rapid rise and fall of his breathing.“What happened?” He demanded, his green eyes searched mine, with his brows drawn tight.I yanked my arm free but stayed close enough that our bo
LizabellaSince the previous incident in the bathtub, Mirabelle had never left my side, not once. She slept on a cot in the corner of my room, ate every meal with me, and followed me like a shadow through every corridor and garden path.Surprisingly, nothing crazy had happened since then, which left me thinking two very different things. One, that the person who had been trying to hurt me had been scared off by Mirabelle’s constant presence. Or two, my own mind, knowing that somebody was watching over me, had decided to stop tormenting me with visions that felt too real.The problem was, I didn’t know which of these two things was the actual truth. I didn’t know if I was hallucinating or if it had been real, because with Mirabelle here, nothing had happened y
KaelStanding at the head of the long steel table in the heart of my underground laboratory, with the hum of refrigeration units and the scent of chemicals filling the air. The walls were lined with reinforced glass cases holding rows of glowing vials, my life’s work, the serum that would turn ordinary blood into something unstoppable.Dr. Lira Voss, the same woman who had overseen Lizabella’s treatment, leaned over a holographic display, as three other lead scientists flanked her, tablets in hand, faces illuminated by the blue glow of data streams.“The latest batch shows a 47% increase in cellular regeneration,” I said, tapping the projection so the molecular model spun slowly in mid-air. “But we still need to stabilize the a
LizabellaEver since I read that card over three days ago, I had been frantic and paranoid. The simple cream-colored rectangle with its two mocking black words, ‘Game on’, had lodged itself in my mind like a splinter I couldn’t pull out. I spent my mornings convinced someone was watching me from the shadows of the corridor, or that every creak in the floorboards was the sound of footsteps creeping closer, ready to attack.At night, sleep became an enemy as I twisted and turned beneath the silk sheets, my heart racing at every rustle of the curtains, every distant howl of the desert wind against the windows. Dark circles had formed under my eyes, deep and bruised-looking, and my hair was always disheveled no matter how many times Mirabelle brushed it.
LizabellaI wouldn’t have been so worried if Mirabelle had at least been present. Then I could have convinced myself the door was simply jammed, some ancient mechanism in this sprawling palace finally giving out after years of disuse. But Mirabelle had stepped out to fetch a snack, twenty minutes ago, maybe more, and in the time she was gone the handle had gone from turning freely to refusing completely.Or… could Mirabelle have locked it deliberately? So I wouldn’t wander the halls unsupervised?The thought sent ice down my spine and so many suspicions were running through my head now, colliding and overlapping until I couldn’t tell which ones were reasonable and which ones were born purely from fear because I hated feeling trapped
Lizabella“My lady… My lady!” The urgent voice yanked me awake with a violent gasp and my lungs seized as though I had been drowning as I bolted upright, chest heaving, sweat already cooling on my skin. For a terrifying second the room refused to come into focus, everything blurred at the edges, from the heavy burgundy curtains, to the carved bedposts, and the faint scent of sandalwood and dying embers.Then I turned my head sharply to the right to see Mirabelle standing beside the bed, hands clasped tightly at her waist, brown eyes wide with worry.“What… What’s the problem?” I managed to ask, voice hoarse and thin.She took a small step closer, voice soft but trembli
Damon"Do you really plan on not having dinner at all because it's already past 10pm?” Damian asked, as he made his way to chair before
Lizabella“You are such a horrible person.” The words tore out of me before I could stop them, it was filled with the anger I had been swallowing since the day they dragged me into this palace and locked the doors behind me.“You and your brothers,” I continued, my voice rising despite myself. “You
Lizabella“Pearl, stop!” I shouted, my feet pounding against the marble floor as I chased after her. “Come back here this in
Jerry“When will your spy contact us with good news?” Josie’s voice cut through the dimly lit and quiet room, sharp enough t







