LOGIN“No!” she sputters out, stumbling a few steps towards me, shaking her head so hard her pretty blue-green hair flutters out all around her. “No, Junie, don’t make me go! I want…I want to stay here! And help! I mean…” she bites her lip. “It will be nice to be able to visit home. But I want to stay wit
“I’m sending you home too,” I say quietly, doing my best to look each in the eyes. “I’m sorry this happened to you. I’m sorry if you’re disappointed that you didn’t get the wish.” They murmur a variety of responses back to me, most of them relieved. One by one they step forward and I take their ha
“Does…” I whisper, my eyes still fastened to Orion as my eyes move over him, feeling the powers that radiate from him now. “Does that mean you have all of the powers of Darkness too? From…from the wish?” “No,” Orion murmurs, looking down at his hands and flexing them, experimenting with the feel o
Beatrice is the last to go, staring at me in shock, realizing finally that she bet everything on the wrong horse. I bare my teeth at her, fangs extended, and Beatrice’s eyes go wider as she trembles and finally submits, going to her knees and bowing her head. “Good,” I say, my voice returning to n
Laila’s knife sinks deep between Death’s shoulder blades and the final scream of a God fills the air as Death falls to his knees. The magic stops mid-stream, like a tap being suddenly turned off. I groan and tilt forward against Anton, who catches me and holds me against his chest. “Shit, June,”
“Just a little longer, June. She’ll do it.” But what if she doesn’t? What if…what if I’m inches from oblivion, and this is it? My heart strains in my chest, my wolf shaking like a leaf from snout to tail. But still, I will myself to hope. To trust in my friend. “I know,” I reply, letting my ey
“Wait!” a girlish voice calls out behind us. Laila and I both spin in surprise to see three more Candidates I don’t yet know running down the path, clutching their cloaks in front of them.“What the…” I murmur, taking a step back, surprised and unsettled by their sudden appearance.“We refused too,”
I laugh, shaking my head at him and giving him a little shove in return, because I know he’s trying to chuff me up and give me courage. That’s what he did for the last twenty minutes, anyway – telling me how gorgeous and imposing I look, and how nicely the rose-gold crown looks on my black hair, whi
I frown at him, not understanding. Then I start and lean again towards him. “Wait, so, is this like…do you think this is an actual date?”He laughs a little, surprised. “Of course I do.”“You and me,” I say, pointing between us. “We’re on a date? Like a date-date – like…a romance date?”Orion grins
“Ah, Princess Juniper Sinclair,” the God of Death says, turning his wicked grin on me. “What a pleasant surprise. Please.”He gestures forward towards the platform and I straighten my shoulders as I walk towards it, remembering who I am - that I have every ounce of my father’s strength and my mother







