The Nightingale Novel By Kristin Hannah Novels & Stories

“Yeah. Let’s not think about that part right now.” We shifted again and sprinted back toward the house. By the time we dressed and headed toward the office wing, tension rolled off Ethan in waves. The second we reached Dad’s office, we heard shouting inside. “What do you mean the nanny is human?” Alpha Nathan roared. A crash sounded. “Victoria, have you completely lost your mind?”

Lady Hannah yelled out. “What do you think you are doing?” the guard asked her. “King Thorvald!” she yelled over and over. The doors open a little bit and lady Hannan heard a voice, “King Thorvald says to let her in.” The guards stepped aside and let lady Hannah walk in. The vampire wing was not completely dark as there was a few night lamps on the wall, dimmed down. “Why do you dare disturb me during the day?” King Thorvald asked, the irritation clear in his voice.

"Luna Hannah! Please, I didn't mean it! Don't blacklist me!" Heidi crawled toward Hannah on her knees, begging. "Get up and get out! If you want to keep living in this city, take your stinking scent and leave my sight!" Hannah's aura flared again, making the traitors' spines buckle. They scrambled to their feet and slunk out of the store like beaten dogs. Naomi was still rambling to herself, repeating the lie that I was the one who destroyed the dress. Just then, the assistant returned and handed Hannah a tablet.

Hannah's POV I sat on the swing rocking slightly as I took a sip from my glass of champagne, loving the fact that the trees and the night's sky worked together to shield me away from the crowds of people who were currently in the house, partying up a storm. I looked down at my feet that were pressed into the floor, knowing I would have to spend the night here since I had been drinking against my better knowledge that is. "I thought I was the only one who needed a break," I heard Patience announce softly and I lifted my head to find her walking towards me in a different dress, making me realize how long I was sitting here, the red material against her skin ma-

DAVID I waited until the last guard passed the corridor. The monitors in front of me showed the usual: Nico’s men on lazy loops around the mansion, Sydney fuming in her bedroom like a storm cloud with lipstick, Veronica sipping her late-night tea, composed and poisonous. And then there was her. Hannah stood by the window in the east wing suite, moonlight carving her into something spectral. She touched the curtain twice—our signal. Safe. Alone.

I want to remind him, but Granny already left the center of the circle, and she takes me back to the outskirts with her. “I guess I stepped in too fast, too,” Granny smirks at me, “The kid sees far.” Sees far? Of what? “The thing about Nightingale,” The stranger suddenly turns to Lilith, explaining with a warm smile as if taking a student to class, “they design the initials of their customized pieces if they only make one of them, and they leave that in random places.” Lilith blinks for a second before she gasps in shock and then looks down at her dress. She doesn’t see but when she turns the short collar inside out, I see “D.V” embroidered on it.

I ask for the second time. MYSTERIOUS OLD LADY: Why does it matter to you, do you also want to kill me like you killed that old man? (She whispers into my ears and I tremble) I'm still lying in the darkness and I can feel her breath all over me. I feel like she's encircling my bed and whispering into my ear whenever she gets close to it. I can feel the continuous motion around me. I'm still, and I can't move my body.

Now a once-whole blue planet floated with just particles of itself as it drifted across this dark, lifeless plain. In a different plane lied a primordial creature of the night finding solace in the eternal night that plagued his castle, the whistle and Chimes of fate had stirred his old blood awake. He knew that times were finally changing, and it seemed he had to get back to the game. "I wonder how Netherndel is faring, it's time I get back" his deep red eyes shone with a dangerous glint as he looked across the darkness, his eyes seemed to bypass the veil between planes for his gaze had a godly presence that came with it.

I hated how it made me think of the hotel room, of that night, of the stranger who had burned his way into my memory. “Snap out of it, Cassie,” I muttered. “It was just one reckless night.” Downstairs, the ballroom was already buzzing with laughter and champagne glasses clinking. The stares I drew were sharp, but I ignored them all and slipped out into the garden. The moonlight was greater company than the crowd inside. I stared at the moon. Always there. Always fulfilling its purpose. Unlike me stumbling, failing, suffocating in my own skin. I stayed until footsteps rustled the grass behind me. My mother’s voice cut through the night. “There you are. I want you to meet someone.”

Hannah had already turned down the covers, the sheets looking like white water under the dim glow of the bedside lamps. "I’m the guest, so I get the far left," Mia declared, scrambling into the bed and pulling the duvet up to her chin. "I’m the hostess, so I’m in the middle," Hannah said, her voice dropping into a playful, authoritative lilt. I took the right side, the side closest to the window. As I slid under the covers, the cool silk felt incredible against my skin. I was still wearing the thin, sleeveless nightgown Hannah had gifted me—a "sorry for the Tyler drama" present. It was short, barely reaching mid-thigh, and felt like wearing nothing at all.