Read Between The Lines Novels & Stories

She couldn’t believe it, people have to make appointment to do it? “Okay, so monthly, huh?” “Whatever you’re thinking stop it. You’re jumping to conclusions again” “It’s called reading between the lines” “I don’t think it’s like that. I think they just talk about you” Linda suggested. “After their meeting, Roland would ask me to arrange something for you” “It’s either additional lessons or booking for a restaurant. Something you need” “So, you don’t think they set an appointment for that?” she wanted to confirm. “No. I don’t think so” Linda said then ended their call.

The gardener looked at me with a mix of pity and horror. "Dig it up. The smell stinks." My voice was indifferent. Watching the tree crash down, its roots—connected to the earth's ley lines—exposed to the air, I felt nothing but relief. I returned to the study and found the Blood Oath scrolls and cards Ethan had written to me. I shoved them, stack by stack, into the magical shredding array. The array hummed, and the sweet nothings that once made my wolf's heart race instantly turned into meaningless dust.

This contract is thicker by a few extra papers. “You can read the fine lines, or I can explain to you how these next few weeks may go,” Prior offers. I swallow nervously, glancing down at the words which jumble up in an utter mess before my eyes. I would much rather hear it from Prior, so I can question her if necessary. “Go ahead,” I murmur.

🖱️Jayden🖱️ “Can someone read the content,” I asked quietly, my voice still rough, “because I believe this thing is written in English.” The words on the open pages swam slightly in my vision, not because they were unclear but because my head still felt like it had been shaken and set back wrong. I could see letters. Proper letters. Lines. Paragraphs. This was not some ancient runic nonsense or glowing prophecy language. It looked almost ordinary, which somehow made it more unsettling.

‎ ‎My hands trembled as I unfolded the paper. ‎ ‎More handwriting. ‎ ‎But this one was different. ‎ ‎Sharper. ‎Angrier. ‎Like the pen had been pressed too hard. ‎ ‎The message made my blood go cold: ‎ ‎“You still don’t understand what you’ve done.” ‎ ‎My breath caught. ‎ ‎Then I saw it: ‎ ‎A second line. ‎Smaller. ‎Almost like an afterthought. ‎ ‎“He’s not who you think.” ‎ ‎I stared. ‎

Something that might have been the faint beginning of trust rebuilding itself grain by grain. Dream stood there, reading the last lines of the report again, the paper held steady in his hands, emotion flickering in his eyes.

Read the old one. Close the laptop without typing anything.

"The command line is unresponsive! The system is... it’s locking me out!" I shoved him aside and took the controls, my fingers slamming against the keys. Nothing. The screen began to glitch, lines of code fracturing into white noise. A window popped up in the center of the display—a window that hadn't been there before. It wasn't a system error. It was a greeting. A single line of text appeared, written in a cold, elegant font: “Greed is a fascinating thing, Julian. It makes even the most careful men forget to look at the bait.”

Magnus read the documents in silence. He read them twice. The first time was operational extracting the legally relevant details, the evidentiary chain, the specific language that would hold before a divine adjudicator. The second time was something else. Something he allowed himself only because Vivienne had stepped outside for air and there were a few unobserved minutes in which he could be something other than strategic.

He tapped another section of the page. The snake was the palest blue with darker markings on its body. The snake right beside that one, looked like it was trying to intercept the line. The second snake was a dark indigo, almost black. Faint silver etchings covered its body. "Okay," I said. "What does that signify?" "When looked at with more than human eyes, you will notice that the line is not actually unsteady. But rather, a weaving of reds, oranges, yellows, and the thinnest black line. The line has been braided."