LOGINThaliaThe gods really did have a sense of humor."When am I getting out?" I asked.No answer came.Only a faint sound.Not words. Movement.A rustle somewhere beyond the walls of this strange prison.The sound shouldn't have interested me, but it did. It felt wrong somehow, as though I had stumbled into a moment never meant for mortal ears. A fragment of a god's private existence.Then another voice spoke.A woman.The sound hit me so suddenly that I froze.For one impossible moment, I forgot where I was.Forgot myself.Her voice didn't sound beautiful.Beautiful wasn't enough.It flowed through the air like something alive, like music stripped of melody and reduced to perfection itself. Every syllable carried a rhythm that made my chest tighten.I thought I could listen to her speak forever.Then I heard what she said."That's your follower, and you, as a god, are sleeping with her?"The spell shattered.My brows drew together.Who was she?More importantly—Who talked to him like t
Kaelum“Why!”Thalia's shout echoed through the house, louder than any sound that had filled it since the day I bought the place.“You can't just lock the door on me. I'm claustrophobic!”“You'll be fine,” I said, finally turning the lock and taking a breath.That was an entirely new experience. A completely different kind of mistake than any I had imagined myself capable of making.Even if I was going to disappear, I didn't want to make an escapade out of it with one of the beings I had created. If I was truly that desperate, I could have chosen the goddess, Malia, or any of the handful who still pretended to be my enemies.Not Thalia.I didn't want to dwell on it, but I couldn't erase what I had seen—or what I had been involved in.I rubbed my eyes and headed toward the study, only for Thalia's voice to ring through my head again.“You used me!”“Keep it down. You used me for your pleasure first,” I said as I stepped into the study.“Then did you use me for your pleasure back?”I cl
ThaliaI had never been so embarrassed in my life, and I had been embarrassed more times than most werewolves ever would be.The entire walk toward the annex felt unreal. Master followed behind me, and I could not tell whether I was walking or floating.The sound of my own heartbeat filled my ears, and every step seemed louder than it should have been.And his eyes, I wished I could stop thinking about them.The moment he had looked at me by the lake, something had happened. Something I did not understand or know how to control.I felt exposed, seen, and caught. Yet somehow, I also felt safe and comfortable. Like, I could stay trapped inside that feeling forever.Maybe it was because he was all-knowing. Maybe it was because he was a god. Or maybe I was simply losing my mind.I had spent the entire walk trying not to think. Trying not to imagine. Trying not to remember the way he had looked at me.And I'm failing miserably.I opened the door to the annex.When I glanced back, Master wa
I was just about to seek out the Divine Authority. I needed answers.Why couldn't I hear Thalia? Why couldn't I see her unless she was right in front of me?Then I realized how quiet everything has been today. Everyone had left, yes, but I could barely hear her either.I could still feel her presence somewhere on the estate, but there were no thoughts.Or at least none I could properly catch.When I concentrated harder, all I got were distant mumbles.The realization unsettled me. How powerful is she really?What exactly was this girl? Before I could think better of it, I was already on my feet.I headed toward the annex.I had never really had a reason to enter.As I approached, the atmosphere shifted.The sky darkened. The scent of rain filled the air, then it started.The first drops hit the ground just as a low hum rose from the lake.A distressed animal cry followed.A deer.I would ignore the distress, but a deer stuck in the lake at this moment will not survive, and animals are
ThaliaI honestly still did not understand why I was sad. I had prayed for this, prayed for the Moon God to come and be my knight in shining armor. I had just forgotten he would not come exactly the way I wanted. He was one of the greatest, and I should have known he came with full force. Careful what you wish for, right? If he heard my prayer, then he must have heard the part where I said I would give up my freedom. Was this what he was doing to me? Was there anything that got past him, especially the things that put me in the wrong?I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling. It’s been three days. Three whole days of lying in this bed, three days of mourning the version of Dylan I would have loved to survive. The room had been silent the entire time. No birds, no bugs, no thunder, no lightning, nothing. Just me crying because someone died. Someone who abused me.My throat tightened, and I pressed the heel of my palm against my eyes. I mourned the part of him that could have r
KaelumThe road back to my estate was silent, but inside the car it was anything but.Thalia sat rigidly in her seat, and every few seconds her eyes would flicker toward me before darting away again. Her fingers remained twisted together in her lap as her thoughts continued circling back to Dylan over and over again. No matter how far they drifted, they always found their way back to him.I closed my eyes. For a brief moment, I considered getting out of the car and leaving both of them behind.Then there was Aelar.His hands remained steady on the wheel, but his gaze shifted toward the mirror, settling briefly on her."I don't blame the young girl. She must have been afraid of what she saw."I heard the thought before he looked away."She must have been traumatized seeing her fiancé like that."I almost told him to shut his mind and focus on driving, but then another thought surfaced—one he clearly had no intention of letting me hear."But why is Master so adamant about her when she c
KaelumI sat still in my chair until my mood balanced out and the storm stopped flying around.Maybe I should cause the court some confusion.Their plans to get married and create successions excluding me could be ruined if I laid enough politics to destroy their perfect little plans.I hated the sm
ThaliaI hurried out of the house as fast as I could before he changed his mind.My feet barely touched the ground as I made my way back toward the annex, then I saw Sarah waiting, I almost rolled my eyes at myself. Sarah didn't deserve that attitude.I tried to smile but I couldn't.“Aen and Emily
KaelumI still hadn't figured out why Aelar always brought half the estate with him whenever I summoned him.I looked past him as he stepped into my living room and found nearly twenty-five residents trailing behind him. They crowded together awkwardly, exchanging nervous glances and subtle looks t
ThaliaNow I see the freedom Sarah explained to me because right now, why do I see Aen and Emily right in front of me revving a Porsche while dressed in designer dresses and six-inch heels, waving at Sarah and all this because they were supposedly "going shopping for the kitchen"?Immediately they







