Cerita Line Novels & Stories

Cerebus mirrored her — three heads lifted, tails arched, daring the town to keep staring. The whispers followed them from shop to shop. At the post office: “He’ll turn one day, just you wait.” At the café: “What mother lets her child keep such a thing?” Outside the pub: “Ought to be put down before it hurts someone.” Every word scraped like a blade, but Ellie held fast. With every mutter, she pressed her hand into Cerebus’s fur, grounding him. “Ignore them,” she whispered. “They’re jealous. They don’t have someone like you watching their back.”

"Say it again. Who is your girlfriend?" Thomas scanned the sea of doubtful faces, then erupted. "Imogen Slater, CEO of the Slater Group!" A snicker escaped someone in the crowd. Laughter rippled outward like a wave. Thomas hurled the shoebox to the floor. "You dare mock me? I'll have Imogen fire every single one of you!"

My stomach dropped. “Yes?” A small frown tugged at the teacher’s lips. “Perhaps you could answer the question I just asked?” My mind was a complete blank. I glanced helplessly around the room, feeling the flush creep back into my cheeks. Then, from my left, a voice whispered low enough for only me to hear: “Mercury.” I hesitated only for a fraction of a second before repeating it aloud. “Mercury.” The teacher’s frown softened, and he gave a curt nod. “Correct. Sit down.”

Adara said. ‘The King is awake and alert,’ I heard Carter’s voice as he spoke to the Zetas, and I heard loud cheers from outside the castle. “I slipped?” I asked, trying to remember. “You slipped because Adelie poured oil on the floor,” Kiran said angrily, and it all came back to me. “What did you say to Adelie?” I asked Kiran, and he only looked guilty for about a second. “Not much,” Kiran said, as Adara snorted.

I figured the enemy of an enemy had, indeed, become a friend. I sighed and said, "If none of you believe me, that's fine. But the scholarship was already distributed early this year. Why don't we ask Lily if she received it?" The classroom fell silent for a moment. All eyes turned to Lily, waiting for her answer. Lily raised her phone and announced, "Mr. Clark, you must be mistaken. I've already received my scholarship money." Amelia's eyes went wide, her face turning red, then going completely pale.

Just before I passed out on the cold bathroom floor, I caught a glimpse of Jessica's latest post on her social feed. It was a photo of two hands tightly holding each other, and I recognized Zach's hand immediately. His left hand, where a ring should have been, was now marked only by a faint line. The caption read: "No matter where I am, I'll be there if you need me."

“Death certificate, background wipes, cremation records. But we need a body—or enough of one to hold up to scrutiny.” She sat down next to Calix, their fingers entwining. “You pulled it off for me,” Charlie offered. “Teeth, blood, bones. I burned the rest myself. Wasn’t flawless, but I slipped out.” “This has to be better,” Vincent said. “Ilana was active until recently. Her name’s hot and she’d already caused too much chaos within the organization. They’ll dig deeper.” Charlie tapped a finger against his knee. “We make it look like a silencing. Someone inside took her out before she could talk.”

The line went dead. ******

“I told you to play! I didn’t tell you to be serious!” Margaret yelled back. Harold fumed fiercely and then slapped Margaret across the face. “You’ve spoiled her rotten! That’s why this mess happened! “Where does that leave my dignity?” Margaret grabbed my hand. “Cassian, listen to me. If you care about Sera being twice-married, we can sue Alaric. “Claim fraud, and annul the marriage. How about that?”

Something in my chest that has been in one position for eleven days shifts. "Vienna reported in this morning." He crosses to my desk. Sets down a single printed page with the deliberate care of someone who has thought carefully about how to deliver something. "Prague went dark yesterday. Lisbon haven't responded to three separate messages." He pauses. His voice doesn't change — he's too good for that — but something behind his eyes does. "The degradation pattern is consistent across all five bloodlines. Starts eleven days ago. Simultaneously." Another pause. "To the hour."