RPOVSongs: With A Little Help From My Friends by Joe Anderson and Jim Sturgess, Celebrating Nothing by Phantogram, Crazy by L'Orchestra CinematiqueI dragged my feet back to the castle, kicking up loose rocks as I mindlessly twirled a piece of my hair."You told me."It sounded like a simple explanation, but it created a wad of confusion. How could I not remember telling someone something so precious to me, something I had kept a secret all my life?Was he lying? That didn't seem right since he had mentioned Andre's name.If that were the case then, of all people, why would I have told him?Was he the only one that knew or did I just randomly decide to tell the entire kingdom on a whim? Ugh, the thought of people going up there to have drunken sun up parties was the last thing I needed. And what the hell was up with that enormous wolf?I tugged on my hair until it became painful and let out a frustrated groan. It was pointless. I wasn't going to be able to answer any of those burning
RPOVSongs: Casino (Bad Thing) by Houndmouth, Take on Me by Anni B SweetOver the next week, I found myself feeling out of place more often than not.Surprisingly, I had been spending a lot of my time with Natalie. Lissa and Adrian were so excited about sharing their knowledge of Spirit they were constantly holding sessions when Lissa was able to get away from her royal responsibilities. Not that I blamed them, I could see how much they were learning from each other and how thrilling it was to them, but for me...it was boring as hell.Don't get me wrong, Lissa's ability to heal someone was one of the most miraculous things I would probably ever witness, and it still baffled me how Adrian could enter your dreams or get a read on someone just from the invisible space around them. But watching Adrian stare at a plant for hours trying to make it grow and lounging around indoors as Lissa squinted frustratingly at the air above our heads was beyond dull.Some days I would find a spark of en
DPOVSong: Venus in Furs by The Velvet UndergroundIt was surreal being in that tavern. It reeked of stale ale and sour wine. After I received the news of Rose's death, I spent several nights there trying to drown out anything and everything that reminded me of her. That was until Vasilisa literally slapped me with a hard dose of reason.Since then I was hellbent on proving my dedication to her. I hadn't slipped up once, although with the recent events it was awfully tempting. But instead of falling back into my old habits, I knew I had to push myself further and maintain the trust I had finally built up with our Queen.After glancing around the room for the second time, I was starting to think the Guardian had given me the wrong place. Then a voice slithered over from behind me. "I was wondering when you'd finally seek me out."I turned around to see a shadowed silhouette sitting in a dark corner. There was room at the table for at least four, but he was alone. He lifted his hand up
RPOVSongs: Silver Lining by Rilo Kiley, Sedona by Houndmouth, Breath In by Low RoarI woke to a loud banging on my door. I'm not sure how long it had been going on but I was ready to kill whoever was causing it.I pulled myself out of bed and stomped over to the door. My eyes would only open halfway, but it was enough to see where I was going. My hand fiddled with the door handle a couple of times before I managed to unlatch it and creaked the damn thing open. It felt heavier than usual."What, what? What do you want?!""Well, good morning to you too." I rubbed my droopy eyelids and squinted at a grinning Adrian standing in the hall."What time is it? Why are you waking me up?"His grin grew and his eyebrows rose. "Wow, you are not a morning person.""You're just figuring this out now?"He let out a small laugh and the slight rise in volume caused my head to pound."Can I come in," he asked, looking over my shoulder into my room.I leaned my body against the door lazily and used my w
RPOVSongs: Into Happiness by Phantogram, Bottom of the River by Delta Rae, NFWMB by HozierOver the next few days, more letters arrived. Some of them were as vague and cryptic as the first one, others were very specific on the group's plans and purpose.Basically, they were psychopathic, racist cocktroughs who wanted to rise to power by suppressing the Dhampir. They described a new order they wished to instill, which gave the Moroi species more authority over my kind. One of the letters even had a list of new laws they demanded our kingdom adopt. A main initiative was that all Dhampir would enlist in their kingdoms troops at the age of 12. Any who were incapable of fighting were then sanctioned as slave workers by their rulers.The only exception to this new law was to females—and their proposed fate wasn't any better.Lissa was appalled by the growing list of demands, but I could tell the threats that came with them were starting to get to her. She would go from angry to paranoid an
DPOVSongs: Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden, Claude's Girl by Marika HackmanTraining the next day with Rose started right on time. I thought about calling it off at least a dozen times on the way down there. It was stupid of me to agree to it—masochism at its finest. I should have never said yes, but when she claimed it could help her with her memory recovery, how could I say no?Although, I could hardly affirm those first few days as actual training. They pretty much consisted of one thing: running. Not only were her injuries still not fully healed, but there was another predicament plaguing my mind. I didn't know how I was going to touch her.Since that night in my room where I'd foolishly pulled her into my arms, I was terrified of being close to her again. The feeling of her warm body pressed against me gave me more comfort than I'd felt in months, only to be ripped away by the cruel reality that she was no longer someone I could seek comfort in. I was a fucking idiot to have caved
DPOVSongs: While My Guitar Gently Weeps by The Beatles, One More Cup of Coffee by The White Stripes, Breathe (In the Air) by Pink FloydWe picked training back up the next day, neither of us bringing up the hot springs. I thought about asking her why she lied, but instead, devoted all my energy to something else.Adrian.In between routines over the next few days, I asked her questions about him. Most of them harmless but opened the door for more inquisition. Usually, she was the chatty one and I remained quiet, responding to her with a grunt or curt reply, so naturally, the change in my attitude pleased her. She answered every question with excitement and in great detail, which was hard to hear a lot of the time but helped me piece together the puzzle that was Adrian Ivashkov.If he was hiding something, I wasn't stupid enough to think he'd share it with Rose, so on top of gaining information from her, I ordered a few of my men to discreetly tail him and report back to me. There was
RPOVSongs: Brain Damage by Pink Floyd, White Teeth Teens by Lorde, Answer by Phantogram, Present Tense by RadioheadSleep came surprisingly easy. I was sure I was in for hours of restlessness after the events that had unfolded that day but after unleashing all of that rage built up inside me, I crashed. Hard.I fell into a deep sleep. The kind that throws you into nothing but blackness, yet somehow it isn't terrifying. That was until the dark scene around me began to take a new shape.It was our old meeting place, the garden from the Western Isles. We'd met there about a dozen times before, but that time...something was off.Vines crawled up the walls in unnatural directions, starting one way and sharply jeering to another. Light was softly pouring in through the surrounding windows, but above us, the sky was pitch black with storm clouds hovering close by. Every once in awhile I'd feel a low vibration hum through the room. It caused the leaves to fervently shake before jolting to a