"Yeah," Eliana quips, leaning her head against the glass tiredly. "I got her. I'm fine." Elijah's voice comes in through the receiver and close my eyes, listening in on their conversation. There's not much else I can do. I can't move, and it's a small mercy that I keep drifting in and out of what feels like a coma. I can at least take note of the landmarks. I can't hear a sound from my phone that sits in my pocket still. What if Ray's hung up? My location is turned on, so I'm not worried that I won't be found. It's a matter of when, because we've been on the road for hours. *"I told you I would handle it,"* Elijah chides, and I hear the worry in his voice. *"This is no child's play, Ellie."* "So you have said for weeks and you did nothing. You don't want me marrying Sinclair, and that's why you refused to kill her, so she could take his love and attention from me. I'm not stupid, father. I know how your mind works. Unfortunately," Eliana mutt

Astrid"No, no and no."I can't believe we're having this conversation. It's bonkers, or whatever humans say. "There shouldn't even be a duel. He's her mate for crying out loud. He has no right over her."Rune sighs, fingers twining my hair to calm me. Queen Zephyr...well, she says nothing, staring out the window like the matter is of little consequence to her.But then, she has been like this since my father-in-law's secret came to light. Closed, distant, quiet. The only time she ever smiles anymore is when she is with Ember. She doesn't even talk to her mate. She stopped sharing his bed that day.For the revelries and the hearings, they act as one, but Rune and I, we see it all. We hear it as well. The arguments, her cries and shouts. She is hurt. Deeply.The time frame dates back to way before she became King Fenrir's Erasthai, so I know that it is not the fact he had a child somewhere else that hurt her, but the fact that he could abandon him, and hide it from her. It ta

Gin"He should've told me!" Eliana screams, throwing the drugged wine bottle into the wall. It shatters, glass and wine splattering everywhere.She's having a meltdown when it happens. I hear it first, the whirring sound on the roof. My brows furrow at the thud that follows. Helicopter? Everyone has gone still, and Eliana's eyes dart about wildly. Feet hit the ground frantically and there are growls and groans. Ezra does a flip in me and she howls excitedly. I would too, but I can't move. He's here. I can smell him. The spice and citrus-y scent. My stomach falls and my heart takes off in a dangerous flight.Eliana looks at me then and I try to grin, just as someone storms into the hall, panting. "We're leaving now. Boss's orders!"The next few minutes are the longest in my life, yet, I can't exactly narrate it. Perhaps, it's the drug in my system and the fatigue that drains me faster than I can help.My bed is suddenly in motion, pushed by unseen hands. I blink, and Eliana c

GinI kick my foot up on the wall, staring at the high ceilings in Naomi's villa as I lay on my back. Did I forget to mention that Sinclair has friends that are just as rich as he is?"Why date one when I can have all?" Naomi muses as Ray interrogates her. "Keeping all of this greatness to one man is unfair. Don't you think?"Ray rolls her eyes, her fingers doing wonders with my hair as she braids it. "You don't wanna get married? Have 'em kids running around?" Naomi makes a face, her blue eyes shinning with mirth. "Non," she says in a perfect French accent. "There's not one man or woman that can handle all of me. So, I need more than one.""Girl," Ray mutters, yanking on my hair strands. "You are cray cray.""You're one to talk," I say, a throaty sound jumping to my throat as her nails scrape along my scalp, soothing an itch. "You and Ethan--"She pulls hard on my hair purposely. "Not having that conversation with you. Never said I was gonna marry him. And if you think I

GinMy thoughts weigh heavily on me as I watch the city skyline recede. I have not breathed a word of what I found, and I'm not quite sure how to broach the subject.It was way before we met, I suppose, if his children are all grown up now. His children...Goddess. My stomach plummets to the floor again and my throat tightens. The ring on my finger feels like a weight, and I feel sick to my stomach.Why did he keep this hidden? We're getting married. How could he not tell me something as important as this? We haven't spoken or made plans around it yet, the marriage--my fault, since everytime he brought it up, I changed the topic.It wasn't long before he gleaned why. Am I pushing too hard, Ginevra? If you're not ready, we can wait till you are, he said to me one night, when I was sprawled across his chest, my fingers playing around in his hair. No, I just..., I began, hesitating. I have cold feet is all. And it feels like I'm rushing head first into something blindly.