Each mile farther from the palace was a reminder that my life there was gone, Damon was gone, and the only thing left was the fragile life inside me.I pressed a hand to my stomach as I walked, whispering silently to the child. “I’ll find a place for us. Somewhere safe. Somewhere no one can reach us
LilaThe outpost could no longer hold me safe.The bread was gone, the dried fruit was nothing but dust at the bottom of the pouch. Even the water flask kept running dry and I had to venture out to refill it at least three times a day.I couldn’t wait for Ronan any longer, not with my body aching an
LilaThe sound of footsteps jolted me awake. I sat up too fast, my head swimming, lungs clawing for air in the smoke-filled dreams I had just escaped.For a heartbeat I thought Damon had found me and his shadow would appear in the doorway, cold and furious.Instead, the noise faded into the rustle o
Every brush of glass on leather sent a spike through my nerves. If I broke one, or anyone heard…it would all be over for both of us.A figure detached from a doorway ahead. It was another guard, alone this time, adjusting his belt. He turned right, not left. The space he left behind was a gap I fold
RonanI’d spent enough years here to know he palace’s rhythm; the rhythm of boots on patrol, the faint scrape of servants moving through lower halls, the way torches sputtered when drafts slipped between the stones.Tonight, I wasn’t listening to the rhythm to do something I never thought I was capa
LilaHunger gnawed at me like a living thing. At first, I thought I was dying; some new symptoms accelerating in my stomach. But after a full day I realized I truly was hungry for the first time in what felt like weeks.I told myself I could endure it; that I’d learned discipline under my father’s r