LOGINMany students cheered. A few looked at each other in confusion, maybe a little disappointment. Some of the ones surrounding me turned my way, looking for a reaction that I refused to give. I tightened my grip on the strap of my bag and made a silent decision then and there that I was definitely not
Liora’s POV“Pregnant?”The word squeaked out of me, high pitched and weak, before I could stop myself, making a few nearby students glance my way in confusion. Marissa and her girlfriend both gave me an apologetic look the moment they saw my reaction.“I’m sorry,” Marissa said quickly. “It’s just a
Liora’s POVI woke up the next morning with my mind already made up. The moment I opened my eyes, looking up at the ceiling as the first rays of morning sunshine played across the white paint, I knew exactly what I was going to do today.I was going to tell Callum the truth.All of it. Who I really
Something cracked in my chest. I felt alone and stupid and small, and in that moment, I simply didn’t have the strength to send anyone away.“One drink?” she asked, noticing my look. “You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to, but we do have a history together, and I’d feel awful letting you sit h
Callum’s POVLiora’s door clicked shut behind her. I stood there for a long moment in the darkness, smiling like a fool.It had been a good night. Better than good, actually. I hadn’t planned on the concert going the way it did—hadn’t planned on a lot of things going the way they had over the past w
The first note was loud and raucous, nearly drowning out the roar of the crowd. Around us, the bar patrons surged forward, and I went with them without thinking, pulled in by the music.Somewhere in the first song, Callum appeared at my side.He didn’t say anything. Neither did I. We just stood ther
His shoulders shifted, like he regretted saying it out loud. “My parents… had other plans,” he added, and there was a faint edge of bitterness that hadn’t been there before. “They made sure I learned how to be what they needed me to be.”“A leader,” I said.“A leader,” he echoed, quieter this time.
For a heartbeat we just… stood there. Too close. His breath mingled with mine, the faint murmur of voices from the main rooms a muffled hum somewhere far away.My pulse was everywhere—ears, fingertips, throat.Neither of us said a word.I dropped my gaze first, then met it with a fierce glare.Callu
LioraThe garden was the kind of place you’d expect to see printed on the back of a postcard: a maze of stone paths, fountains whispering in the distance, rose bushes trimmed so precisely it almost felt wrong to breathe near them.But Zane was right, it was far from Callum’s parents eyes, deep in th
LioraThe library was the only place I could think of to start my next search. If Mia’s class couldn’t be my lead, maybe some old legends could.It’s not like I could piss off the Moon Goddess anymore by nosing through her stories.By midday, the noise from the halls was nothing but a distant hum, d







