LOGINBianca’s POV“I was attending a car show.” Callum casually slipped his jacket off and threw it on the back of his desk chair. His face was expressionless, but I knew he was lying.“Liar.” I stood, planting my hands on my hips. “I’ve already seen the pictures.”“Pictures?” Callum turned toward me, br
Callum’s POVI didn’t expect to lose that race.I knew that sounded arrogant, maybe, but it was just the truth. I had been into racing since I was seventeen, and I hadn’t lost a race in over a year. Coming in second tonight, to the same person I had lost to on the street a few nights before, wasn’t
I was scanning the crowd when I caught sight of someone near the far edge of the pit area. Tall, dark hair, broad shoulders. Something about the way he stood made my stomach do a small, stupid flip that was all too familiar.Callum?I squinted. The distance was too much to make out his features. Bef
Liora’s POVBy the fifth night of sneaking out, I’d stopped counting how close I came to getting caught.Marcus had nearly spotted me on the third night, forcing me to duck behind a hedge for ten minutes in the cold while he did his rounds. Zane had thought that was hilarious when I told him. I did
Liora’s POVI wasted no time changing into something dark and sneaking out. The palace was mostly quiet at that hour aside from the guards, but I knew their patrol schedules like the back of my hand, and all of the best routes to slip out without being noticed. By the time I made it out the back gat
“Mother.” I came to stand a few feet away, waiting for her to acknowledge me.My mother jerked her head up and gasped. She waved the servant away with one hand, then tried to stand, but quickly fell back into her chair with a small cry. I rushed over, placing my hand under her elbow to steady her, a
LioraMia didn’t ask questions, and maybe that’s what made her company feel like a relief instead of another reminder. She didn’t press.I liked that about her.She didn’t fill the silence with nervous chatter or hollow sympathy. She simply stayed nearby, existing beside me with a kind of calm that
Liora I wasn’t sure when I’d passed out. But when I woke, it wasn’t morning yet.The rain had stopped. The wind no longer rattled the windows. The dorm had settled into silence, except for the horror movie still murmuring from the forgotten TV.Mia was curled beside me on the narrow couch, one arm
CallumThere was something almost impressive about the way Bianca’s confidence collapsed when the script seem to run out.She tried to speak.I could see it now, her mouth opened once, then again, but the words didn’t come. Maybe she was trying to remember which lie she’d last used, or maybe she sim
LioraI don’t know how to describe the feeling that rose in me as Callum spoke my name. like I was just another item on his list, another obligation he had to deal with.It wasn’t just anger. Not just sadness either. It was something deeper, something that coiled in the hollow space behind my ribs a







