All Chapters of The Memory Trial and the Blue Ghost: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

Audrey BennettBound in heavy iron chains, I was dragged onto the judgment dais. My face was ghost-pale, but my cheeks burned with an unnatural flush. My fingers twitched beyond my control, and an unbearable itch crawled through every vein in my body, as if millions of insects were gnawing at my skin at once.Eugene frowned at the sight, disgust flickering across his face."Edna, what's wrong with her?"Edna sighed. "Withdrawal, most likely."The crowd erupted. The fury in their eyes was almost a physical force, ready to nail me to the dais.If you asked what the people of the Flame Pack despised most, even a random three-year-old could tell you: the Blue Ghost.It was a blue powder, viciously addictive. Stirred into water or food, it turned colorless and tasteless, nearly impossible to detect.The powder produced an unparalleled euphoria. In large enough doses, it could also cause hallucinations of every kind. But once someone stopped taking it, the pain of withdrawal became unbearabl

AudreyOne voice broke the silence first."No wonder she vanished thirteen years ago! She was sent undercover!"But someone immediately shot back."No. A mission wouldn't take that long. She must have been turned while she was undercover. Why else would she spend all those years in the Dark Moon Pack without sending back a single word? Edna was the one who kept gathering intelligence about Blue Ghost shipments, drastically reducing the amount that reached us."Someone else chimed in at once."Exactly! And Audrey killed Klein. We all know that! The fatal wound on his body was the one she inflicted!"At that, the doubt in their eyes hardened back into hatred.Killing Klein, their beloved former Alpha, was the biggest reason they despised me.But Eugene didn't move. He only stared at me, hard, as if trying to read something in my exhausted, listless eyes.Hermia was looking at me too, visibly shaken. She had never once imagined that her mother might actually love her.A vicious glint flas

AudreyMrs. Hayes's face was unfamiliar to the crowd. No one remembered ever seeing her.Only Edna's reaction was unusual, but every eye was fixed on the vision, and no one noticed.In the memory, I stepped into the cabin and drew a box from inside my cloak.It held no intelligence, no evidence. It held... a stuffed doll.The instant Hermia saw the doll, she cried out, "That's the birthday present I got when I turned eight! It was from you!"Mrs. Hayes took the box and sighed. "You send Hermia a birthday present every year, and she never even knows. It also raises the risk that you'll be exposed. Is it worth it?"I gave her a tired smile. "I can't be there to watch her grow up. As her mother, this is the only thing I can still do for her."Mrs. Hayes was quiet for a moment. "Audrey, I'm a mother too. I understand.""Thank you, Mrs. Hayes," I said gratefully. "You're the only person left in the world who knows I'm undercover. There are so many things I can only say to you. Thank you for

AudreyEdna crawled to Eugene on her hands and knees and clung to his leg, sobbing uncontrollably. "Eugene, everything I did was for the Flame Pack! For you!""I never knew who was sending that intelligence. If I'd known it was Audrey, I would never have taken credit for it, I swear."Eugene looked down at her, cold and unmoved. "That doesn't excuse lying to me about gathering the intelligence yourself."Edna choked out, "I stayed by your side for eight years. I raised Hermia like my own child. After everything I've done, do I still mean less than a woman who hasn't come back to see you in fifteen years?"Fifteen years, Eugene. Fifteen whole years she stayed away, and you were kept in the dark from beginning to end. Everything she did was for her brother, for the Flame Pack, or for her daughter. Was any of it for you?"Which of us loves you more? Can you really not see it?"The accusation struck Eugene exactly where it hurt. He looked at me, his eyes turbulent with emotion.Hurt. Grief