ANDREW
As soon as the sun rises the next morning, I yank the covers off of Lyra and James. James lets out a threatening growl and pulls Lyra in closer for warmth. Popping her head over James’s arm, Lyra sticks her tongue out at me snuggles closer into James. Grabbing Lyra by the ankles I drag her to the end of the bed, and she squeals as her tank top rides up her fast-growing belly. Jerking awake at the sound of Lyra’s squeal James bolts upright, rubbing his eyes in confusion.
“Come on you two,” I bark at the two of them. “Road trip.”
“Where to?” James yawns falling back on the bed.
“It is a surprise,” I mumble.
“Pass,” he yells as he places his head under his pillow.
Lyra is sitting on the edge of the bed with her belly poking out of her tank top. After I brought her to bed last night I laid awake for hours trying to decide what is best for my mates. The last time tha
JAMES As soon as she lowers her hood and the perfect blonde curls flow down her back, I did not need her to get any closer to know who she is. My body tenses as her blue eyes pierce into mine. I try to remind myself that I am not a little boy anymore, but that does not help the painful memories that flow through my brain. Instinct makes me pull Lyra in closer and tighten my grip around her. “Hello James,” she sings through the night. The inflection in her voice feels like she is taunting me like she did when I was a child. Suppressing the growl that is threatening to burst through my chest, I just nod in her direction. “Lilith,” her name rolls off my tongue leaving a sour taste in my mouth. “Oh come now,” Lilith says as she approaches me. “Is that anyway to greet your mother?” A menacing growl erupts from my chest, as I push Lyra behind me. The urge to protect Lyra against my m
JAMES“I think it is okay,” Lyra says as she shuffles gently on her feet. But I know this place, this place is anything but ‘okay.’ Grace opens the door to the tearoom; the smell of incense and cookies wafts out of the room. This is the most inviting that this place has ever smelled. Growing up this place always smelled of rotting plants and wet animals. I wanted to follow Lyra into that room, but it was all too comforting. Something is off about this whole situation that Andrew put us in the middle of. Andrew and Lyra may trust Grace, but Grace trusts Lilith, and I know that Lilith only looks out for herself. So that can only mean that Grace cannot be trusted either. Reaching out I grab Lyra by the hand and pull her back to me. “Do not go in there,” I whisper to her.“I have been there several times before with no issue,” Lyra cradles her stomach as she whispers back to me. “This is differen
LYRAAs soon as I step through the doorway into the tearoom, the door slams behind me. My eyes flash to Grace and she is just shaking her head in disappointment. Grabbing the doorknob, I yank on the door, and it will not budge. My hands immediately bang against the heavy wood of the door trying to force it open.“Andrew! James!” I scream as I fall against the wood.I step back as I hear my mates trying to break down the door from the other side and then it is just silent. Trying the doorknob one more time, it twists easily in my hand. Opening the door just a crack, I peek out of the tearoom only to realize that it no longer leads to the round entryway. I open the door wider to reveal a tiny cottage. Without a second thought, I step into the cottage and breathe in my surroundings.I wipe the tears from my eyes, as I look around the cottage. It is exactly what you would expect a witch&r
ANDREW James and I decided that we would walk down the spiral staircase convinced that we would eventually reach the bottom. But every level that we hit looks identical to the level that was above it. The pictures on the walls and each doorway is always the same. We have been walking for what feels like forever. The view from the windows never changes. The sun has not risen since we have been in the tower. It is the dead of night, and the sky is void of any moon or stars. Black clouds swirl against the dark blue sky. Tension and frustration is building between us, and I fear if we do not come up with a new idea soon that we will end up fighting. After descending the stairs and landing in seemingly the same circular room for the hundredth time, I sit on the floor. My legs feel like lead, and I am pretty sure my feet are bleeding withing my shoes. Exhaustion mixed with hunger is driving me to the brink
LYRA Three days. Three days of being stuck in this cabin with Grace as she barks orders at me trying to teach me magic. Between her constant nagging, my ever-growing belly, and not having my mates the only emotion I can feel is irritation. I have refused to step back into the tearoom. Now that I know it is a portal I do not wish to end up anywhere else, so Grace is reluctantly training me in the main room of her cabin.“You must clear your mind of emotions,” she says for the thousandth time. Tiny flames burst from my fingertips as she speaks. “You must clear your mind,” I mutter under my breath mocking the words that she constantly repeats in my direction.“I heard that,” she groans without turning to look at me.“I have control over fire,” I whine like a little kid. “Is that not enough?&rdqu
JAMES Delicately Lilith cuts her chicken into bite sized pieces, grinning at us while she eats. Neither Andrew or I have dared to take a bite or drink anything that is laid out in front of us. Both of our stomachs are growling loudly from hunger, but we know we cannot trust anything that Lilith has placed in front of us. “Aren’t you boys hungry,” she bats her long eyelashes at us. “You’ve been walking the stairs for three days now.” “Three days?” Andrew says exasperated and I suddenly feel a lot hungrier. “mmHmm,” she mumbles as she chews. Leaning back in my seat, I glare at Lilith. She looks exactly like I remember. When I was little I used to twist my fingers around her long strands of hair while she told me stories. She would look down at me with her bright blue eyes and kiss me gently on the forehead, calling me her Ferocious Pup. I constantly have to
LYRA“I am ready.” I am standing in the tearoom waiting for Grace to answer me. She has been ignoring me for the better part of two days. Once she realized that I, or rather Ella, could connect with all five elements when we are outside she has been training me all hours of the day and night. One would think that she would at least speak to me during our training sessions. But no. She just randomly attacked me with spells throughout the day trying to catch me off guard. Last night she burst into my bedroom in the middle of the night, trying to catch me off guard. I was awoken by a large gust of wind that threw my bed across the room. All I remember is raising a hand and hearing the sounds of wood cracking across the room before I went back to sleep. I woke up to find that I had created a rather large crack in the middle of the main room of the cabin. Grace was bitte
LYRAMemory after faded memory flashes through my head. Right before my eyes I watch James grow up. This bright blue eyes and blonde hair have remained unchanged all of these years. His mischievous grin is also the same. Grace doted on him constantly, treating him like a little prince. Lilith seemed to only tolerate his presence. I watch as a four-year-old James runs wild through the forest with Grace desperately trying to catch him, but he is so fast that she cannot keep up. Grace collapses on the ground and pretends to be hurt. She calls out his name in dramatic distress and it stops James in his tracks. His beautiful blue eyes fill with concern as he runs to her side, until she flips him on his back and started tickling him. His laughter fills the forest as he tries to wiggle his way out of her arms. As the memories pass through my mind I cannot help but think that I have never seen a child tha