LOGINALICE POV:"Keep talking and you're going to wake her up.""You're also talking.""Yeah, but it's different, because I'm actuallywhispering.""No, you're kind of yelling now...."A couple of hushed voices manage to pierce through my heavy consciousness. I still feel very much detached from my body, so much so that it seems like I don't have one. Still, I try to reach out for that one connection. The voices. I still can't quite place them, but I hang onto them like a lifeline, knowing that if I just follow them hard enough, I will be able to break through the surface of this daze...."She's moving.""She's going to wake up soon." "Finally."That one word. That last voice. I will recognize it from a million miles away. From a million lifetimes away.Diamond.And that's what breaks me through it. Him. Thoughts of him.With a long shuddering gasp, I finally wake up, breaking through the traps of unconsciousness, gasping for air like a swimmer who got swallowed by the currents. I open my
DIAMOND POV:The moment Alice’s wolf form starts to turn black, everything in my world starts to crash.I almost dropped everything right then and there. It's like the eclipse, covering everything and turning everything dark, and at that very moment, it feels like there is absolutely nothing I can do about it.Tristan is laughing in the distance. A whole chunk of his neck is missing and I can tell that he doesn't have long. He won't be able to survive this. But would his death really mean anything significant if Alice goes down with him too.I have to get her the antidote. Now.He staggers away from her, smiling widely as he goes. "Just let the potion work its way around you. Everything will start making sense soon. Everything will be alright. You will continue my bloodline.."With that, more rumbles start to echo around the cave. Our allies have marched onto the outside to find the Rogues and treat them, but it seems like things are not going according to plan. Rogues start to march
ALICE POV:Diamond?His name and his scent swirl around me like a tornado, making me gasp with both fear and excitement. If he's here, then that means it's not a hopeless case after all. But at the same time, it would also mean that he's in danger. But just to be sure, even though Tristan is about to crash into me, I try to connect to Diamond and really know if he's there. "Diamond… if you're there, I need you to know that I-""I'm coming to save you," he declares, and a crash in the distance echoes through the halls of the cave. This makes Tristan stop, staring at me like this is all my doing. He shrinks back to his human form, and as he does so, I see him smiling at me.Before I can move out of his way, he rams into me, making my body slam against the floor. My head hits a rock and my vision starts to sprout black spots. I blink rapidly, trying to push Tristan off me and fight back somehow, but it's useless. He gets on top of me before I can move, pinning my hands down with his kne
DIAMOND POV:I stare at Sahari's naked form in the cage, blinking hard as though this would change everything. I still don't know what to do or say. I just stand there speechless as Aristea steps back and almost collapses against her chair in relief. I don't blame her for feeling only positive things, because she doesn't know Sahari.I watch as Sahari comes to, her eyes flickering around as though looking for something. When she finds me, she flinches and staggers back."I...." She trails off, tears starting to stream down her face. "What am I doing here? Why am I here? Why...."She breaks into tears, hugging herself and clawing at her own skin. I can't help but feel a twinge of sympathy for her. I kneel beside the cage and try to look at her, but she just scrambles to put the cover around herself. I take one of the blankets covering the chairs and slide it between the bars. She makes a grab for it and wraps herself, her breathing getting more and more stable until she's calm. Or at l
ALICE POV:Should I trust him?The question echoes in my mind like a mantra, repeating over and over until I find myself almost spiraling into the memories of Drake’s betrayal. It's still so fresh. All of it. I still feel like I'm back in the old bedroom that I shared with Diamond, lying down on the floor about to be violated.If I don't try to gamble and take a chance with him, I won't have any way to get out of here. But at the same time, if I chose wrong and put all my chips into this, I could die. Our son could die."What are you going to do?" I ask him, assessing his face for any kind of strange expression. But it's hard to do that when he's almost mangled beyond recognition. "Are you going to make up some story about me and make Tristan give me the potion? Is that the plan?"His eyes go wide. "He wants you to take it?""That's what I said," I hissed at him. "Is that your plan?"Drake stays quiet. All he can do is stare at me in horror. "No. No, you cannot stay here. You need to
DIAMOND POV:I shift into my wolf form, roaring as I meet the closest Rogues halfway and bulldoze them with my body, slashing at them with my claws.The first thing I notice is how more resilient they are than the old Rogues, who just needed to get hit in the head to disintegrate and fall apart. These ones, despite getting rammed in the head and getting their faces scratched open, are still fighting me. I know that they are people, and that is the reason why they are stronger.I don't want to hurt them, but if I don't at least do some kind of damage, they will eat me alive. I ram them down with my head, pinning them on the ground and biting at their stomach so they would get hurt, but not enough to make them bleed out. I shift back into my human form just as they start to crowd around me, my smaller form allowing me to escape freely.Now they're chasing me around the alleys. I know I won't be able to run forever, and I dread the time my exhaustion keeps up and makes me stop. I keep go







