Nate’s words were engraved inside my mind the following few days. It haunted the halls of the castle, stalked me into my classes, and even into my dreams. I hadn’t seen Elijah for five days following that horrible night. No explanation as to where he went and even my friends were left humming with questions with his sudden disappearance. It wasn’t until Thursday, as I sat in my room working on my homework, when a knock sounded against the door. I turned on my bed, peering at the empty bed where Ariah had been an hour before she gave up on homework, deciding she was going for a walk. I released a long sigh, getting up from my bed, and headed to open the door. I blinked, at the empty space in front of me, confused. I leaned through the doorway, peering out into the hallway to see if anyone was there. “Hello?” My voice bounced off the walls of the cavernous hallway, hitting my ears in a monotonous echo. Oookay. I stepped back into my room and closed the door. When I turned, a girl wa
Five hours passed, and we were still in Mrs. Humphrey’s office. My friends had come and gone, giving over their accounts. At that point, I’d cried a few times, while neither Elijah nor Luca had shown a single flicker of emotion since Elijah’s outburst of his sister’s murder. According to witness accounts, things weren’t looking too good for him. The door clicked open, and a man stepped in. Mrs. Humphrey slid out behind her desk and kneeled on the floor in front of him. “Alpha, what an honor.” “On your feet, Selene. It’s no night for formalities.” The man’s familiar butterscotch eyes flicked towards me, but his was cold, unlike the eyes I was used to. “Is this her?” “Yes, my lord.” “I see.” He closed the door behind him. Unsure, I stood up, about to bow like Mrs. Humphrey, when he said, “Sit, girl. The future luna does not bow to others beside her alpha.” Confused with that statement, I sat. “Lucian,” the man stopped in front of him. Unexpectedly, Luca stood, and they fell into
“I tried. I’m sorry.” “She’s not showing?” Mr. Ledger asked, sitting on Ariah’s bed, staring glassy-eyed at the spot where I told him I had last seen Sally. “No. Sorry.” He glanced up at the guards. “Have some food brought for the girl.” Luca stood awkwardly in the corner of the room, his eyes blank as he stared at my bed. If he really was innocent, I wondered what he was thinking at that moment. Did he see her dead body? I shook the thought from my head. “Are you certain it’s the girl from the picture?” Mr. Ledger asked me, rubbing his jaw. As he sat there, he seemed average, and nothing like how I’d pictured Elijah’s alpha king dad would look or act like. He was just a father, desperate for answers of what happened to his baby girl. He had shown me a few pictures of Sally on his phone to make sure it was really the girl I’d been seeing. “Yes. Without a doubt.” “I don’t understand,” he said. “I had other priests come and reach out. Others who are gifted at seeing the departe
It didn't come to any surprise to me that Sally was a no-show. Mr. Ledger didn’t take the news too well and blamed me for it. To add insult to injury, he pointed out more flaws of my appearance and told me if I didn’t get my crap together, that I wasn’t worthy of his son. To be honest, I never imagined I’d end up entangled with a prince, if that’s what I should call it. I was having my doubts as Elijah acted distant since he’d returned. It wasn’t until Mr. Ledger left the academy that Elijah came back to my room. “Hi.” “Hey.” I pushed open the door further. “Want to come in?” He stepped inside, keeping his eyes on the floor. “I’m sorry.” I closed the door before turning to glance at him. “About what?” “My dad…” he shook his head, sighing. “He’s full of shit, if anything. There’s nothing wrong with your hair, your face, or your clothing.” I snorted an uncomfortable laugh, not sure how to admit I did feel hurt by his dad’s statements. Instead, I replied with something I did mean,
The cafeteria was alive with the vibrant hues of midday, the beams of sunlight creating a shimmering effect over specs of dust. Alive with the chatter of students, it almost felt like I’d stepped into a whole other universe. Nothing about this room screamed the certain sense of sadness I felt. Mostly, I felt frustrated over the fact knowing Elijah was being treated like some kind of criminal. It had been two days since we were alone, and at the rate things were going, I wouldn’t get to spend time with him anytime soon, either. There was always a guard trailing after him, scrutinizing his every movement and intervening each time he tried to communicate with anyone. Though they allowed me to talk to him in passing, exchange a few words here and there, but of course, everything we said was observed by a guard. And believe it or not, the guard would take notes of the conversation transpiring before him, recording every word spoken in his presence. I had the stinking suspicion they w
“Good afternoon class. Today we’re talking about ancient tomes and the lore evolving them,” our history teacher, Mr. Barnes, announced, followed by low, dismissal groans from students. “Now, now, why the long faces? Learning about our ancestry is by far the most exciting thing! We get to learn about where our bloodline originated, and all the other events evolving it. It’s all about those tomes!” More groans followed. I sighed, flipping open my notebook and picking up my pen. It was drawing close to exams, so I took every opportunity to take notes on everything so I wouldn’t miss anything. It was a strenuous task and so unlike me, but I had to give my everything if I didn’t want to fail. Things weren’t looking too good already. I was having a hard time keeping up in class. “We’re starting with the tome of life,” Mr. Barnes pressed on, dragging the overhead projector trolley closer to the whiteboard and positioned it to point forward. When he clicked it on, an image splashed across
I had to sit through three more excruciatingly long classes before it was lunch break. Ariah called me over at the end of Numerology class, but I waved her off and rushed out to track down Elijah. It took me another few minutes, before I found him standing by the announcement board with a frown on his face. My eyes lifted onto the board, where a clear picture of both Katie and Lila, asking students to come forth if they had any information that might lead to an arrest. “Hey,” I walked up to him and the guard that had been shadowing him, turned, crossed his arms to his chest and glared at me. Elijah shot the guard a dirty look, then peered at me. “Hi.” He wasn’t smiling, which bothered me a great deal. “Is there something…” My voice trailed and I peered uncomfortably at the guard. Elijah’s jaw ticked. “I’d tell you, but I have a dimwit following me everywhere.” My mouth fell open, thinking the guard would retaliate, but he just stood silently, still eyeing us with intent. “He do
I made my way toward the library with my book bag thrown over my shoulder like a bat straight out of hell—wings on fire. I almost rammed into a few people along the way. I was late, courtesy of the one student in physical who turned wolf and lost control of herself. At first she tried to pull her own fur out, then turned her own frustration on the rest of the class and our teacher. It was chaos. By the time the period was over and we tried to leave, we had to clear up the mess she left behind after getting escorted out by a flurry of guards. After that display, I was growing apprehensive over the idea of transforming into my wolf for the first time. What if that happens to me? My heart was loud in my ears as I made a beeline for the library, almost ramming right into Dibella. “I'm so, so sorry I’m late. There was an incident in physical—” Dibella tutted with a smile and waved me off. “Not to worry, love. I'll reheat the kettle. Why don’t you get settled by my desk and start worki