CHARLOTTE I was so terrified.My body moved before my mind caught up, stumbling back, my heel catching on a root, my balance tipping. I hit the ground hard, palms scraping against the earth, breath ripping out of my lungs in a sharp gasp.“No… no, you’re dead,” I choked, shaking my head so violently my vision blurred. “I saw when they executed you. I watched—”Emmalaine only tilted her head, smiling with that same cold amusement she used to wear when she slapped me for speaking out of turn. Her eyes glimmered with something worse than hatred.“Execution,” she purred, stepping closer, “is such a flexible thing, Charlotte.”The sound of my name in her mouth made bile rise in my throat.“One simply needs friends in dark places.”I tried to scramble away, but she stepped forward with the slow, confident grace of a predator. She circled me, her steps soft, measured, almost elegant. Her hair spilled over her shoulders, wild from the shift, her skin smeared with dried blood and dirt. She lo
Last Updated : 2025-12-12 Read more