The morning comes all too soon. The sun barely crests the horizon, casting lazy gold across the edges of the windowpane, but it doesn’t feel warm. It feels like a countdown. Final. Sharp around the edges. I lie still for a moment, wrapped in the heat of blankets and the scent of my mates lingering on the sheets—smoke, embers, and something faintly sweet, like wild mint. It’s the most comfort I’ve known in years, and it makes getting up that much harder. I’m used to running. To waking up in a different place every week. To not unpacking my emotions, or my bags. But here, surrounded by soft laughter, burnt toast, enchanted unicorns, and the quiet weight of love, I let myself be still too long. Comfort, I’m learning, is a dangerous thing. With a slow exhale, I pull myself from the sheets and begin the process of becoming the version of me the world needs today. The Slayer. The infiltrator. The spark that might burn the vampire council to the ground. Black pants. Reinforced boots. My old
LayahThe clearing we’d claimed as a makeshift training ground buzzed with energy, literal sparks flying through the humid air, sweat-slicked skin catching the golden sunlight that filtered through the trees. No rest. No distractions. Just the three of us, locked into rhythm. Dylan braced his legs, arms extended as flame spiraled from his palms in twin vortexes of gold and copper. The ground cracked beneath him, scorched by his raw power."Control the heat, not just the fire!" I called, stepping closer. “You’re burning through too fast.”He growled in frustration, but obeyed, pulling the flames back and forcing them to dance instead of devour. His shirt had long since been discarded, his chest rising and falling rapidly as sweat dripped from his jaw. The dragon in him liked brute force, but the magic, our magic, was teaching him finesse. Kai stood across the field, shadow-wreathed, his entire form flickering with ghostly black smoke that curled from his fingertips. The wind stirred, re
DylanThere’s a stillness when Layah steps into the center of the clearing. It’s not quiet. The wind still whispers through the trees, birds still call from overhead, and Kai is still muttering beside me about his singed shirt. But everything else, the air, the earth, even the light feels like it’s holding its breath. Then Layah exhales, and her body begins to glow. It starts at her feet, a golden shimmer that races up her legs like morning sunlight. Her boots vanish, and when the light fades, she’s barefoot, toes sinking into the grass as if she belongs to it. A white dress, soft and flowing, wraps itself around her like magic heard her say "something deadly, but make it beautiful." Her blonde hair spills down her back in loose waves, catching the light like spun gold and then the wings appear. Not soft or gossamer. Blades. Huge, multi-coloured translucent wings, sharp as razors and glowing with shifting hues, violet, gold, silver, green. Each edge refracts the light like a prism but
DylanI’ve never been one to flinch from a fight. Steel, flame, fists, I know those. But this? This is something else entirely. Magic hums under my skin like a second heartbeat. Not mine. Hers. Layah’s. And it’s alive. I stand in the clearing behind the cabin, early morning dew clinging to my boots, while Layah paces in front of me with a look that’s half fond exasperation, half drill sergeant.“Okay,” she says, clapping once. “We start small. Emotion-based manifestation. Think of a feeling, channel it, and release it outward. Don’t aim at anything living.”I nod, inhale deeply, and close my eyes. Feeling. Okay. Easy enough. I think of Layah. Her smile, her scent, her body wrapped around mine the night we bonded. My chest tightens instantly, desire, love, fear. The emotion rises like a wave, swelling behind my ribs and just like that...Boom. A tree ten feet away explodes into a burst of glittery gold vines that rapidly grow up and around it like a bejeweled jungle had a baby with a Ch
Kai is still buried deep inside me, his forehead resting against mine as our breaths mingle, rough and uneven. The grass beneath me is damp with dew and crushed beneath our bodies, but I’ve never felt more grounded. More real. I’m still catching my breath when I hear the sound of someone clearing their throat. Loudly. Deliberately. Kai tenses above me. I freeze. A beat of silence.“Well,” Dylan says, from a very close distance, “I was coming to tell you dessert is ready, but clearly someone already ate.”I groan, covering my face with my hands as heat floods my cheeks.Kai doesn’t even flinch. He just grins wickedly and slowly, obnoxiously, rolls off of me, stretching like a smug cat. “You’re just mad you didn’t get seconds.”“Oh my gods,” I mutter into my hands.Dylan lets out a huff of laughter. “Trust me, I felt enough of it to need a shower. Thanks for the mental images. Truly.”Kai smirks up at him, completely unrepentant. “You’re welcome.”“You’re both the worst,” I mumble, sitt
LayahThe moon’s risen high by the time the others finally drift to bed after a full day of planning. We've decided a small group of us with tether portal there to save us time and get us prepared. It'll be a stretch of my magic, but I think I can manage five of us. I find myself out in the cool night air, sitting on the back steps of the house with a blanket wrapped around my shoulders and a storm of thoughts in my head. I hear the door creak behind me and don’t need to turn to know it’s Kai. His steps are unmistakable confident but quiet, deliberate. Like he’s always balancing power and control. Like he knows how much space he takes up and how to soften it. He lowers himself beside me without a word, arms brushing mine. The silence stretches, comfortable for a few heartbeats. Then I speak.“You don’t have to come.”He stiffens beside me, just a little. “To vampire territory?”I nod, staring out at the trees.He’s quiet for a moment. Then, voice low, he asks, “Why are you saying this