Cuddle Meme

  "There is no escape for you. I have waited a long time for you,mate. I will not let you go this time." I gasped and placed my palm over my heart, doubling over. I felt it. Strong and unbreakable, a cord that connected our bodies, minds and souls to each other's. It reached out, connecting me to him, over time, over space, over realms. I felt his power fuse with mine and cuddle around my ice, making me warm. Fire to my ice. Ice to his fire. I didn't need to see him to know it was him. My dragon growled again with mixed emotions coursing through her. I joined in with a snarl and lifted my head, anger of a woman and beast merging into something cataclysmic.      I thrummed my fingers in the air and I raised my head. Our eyes met and I resisted the urge to double over at the sensation in my chest. With Fae vision, he looked even more gorgeous than any being should be. So sensual. So dark. So powerful. My mate. I searched his turquoise depths for answers, hoping I was wrong, but they said it all. He was my mate. And he'd hurt me. I'll kill him.

My twin sister, Ruby Stone, and I split up after our parents' divorce. She stays with Mom, while I went with Dad. Since the divorce, he's sunk into a deep depression, gambling away every penny we have. We move into a dark, damp apartment, and life becomes an endless struggle. Every day, I go to school and quietly work a part-time job to keep us afloat. Then, out of nowhere, Ruby—whom I haven't heard from in forever—sends me a link to a live stream. "Check this out, Aria. There's a surprise waiting for you." I click it, and my jaw drops. I'm the one topping the trending live streams. The screen splits in two. On one side, I sit in my dingy apartment, hunched over homework under the dim light. On the other side, Mom and Dad cuddle with Ruby on the fancy couch of their sprawling villa. The comments came pouring in. "Let's see what happens when twins are raised on opposite sides of fortune all the way to 18." "Aria still doesn't know, right? Her parents never divorced. They're loaded and perfectly happy. Ruby's life has been like a dream too." "Poor Aria. She's always starving and never has anything decent to wear. Isn't that basically abuse?" "She's the more sensible one, so her parents decided to raise her poorly."