We drove in Draven's car for about an hour. I stayed silent the whole time, constantly recalling the last view of the Palace the those whom I left behind. I hoped that they would forgive me for leaving without saying goodbye and that they would respect my decision. Draven kept glimpsing at me, checking if I was all right, but he didn't force me to be more sociable. I tried smiling at him a few times, silently thanking him for taking me away from that place, but for now, my smiley-grimaces couldn't be called sincere… I kept asking myself if I was doing the right thing. I still loved Sariel, but the relationship we had suddenly became polluted. I kept telling myself that he had to have a plan to act this way… He simply ignored me in it. In the end, when I saw him with Elora, looking at her the same way he had been looking at me, I started to question every single bit of the thing we had. I realized that if I wasn't able to tell the difference, he might have lied to me as well.

Ian took me to the town center and parked the car right in front of a cell phone shop. It was a lively street, full of stores and boutiques. It resembled a high-end shopping district… only smaller, far less crowded, and much more friendly. As I walked out of the car, I instantly saw the smiling faces of people passing me by. They all looked carefree and peaceful… I narrowed my eyes, scanning their almost unreal happiness, which made me wonder if their smiles were genuine, or false, and I found myself on the Truman Show's set. Ian walked out of the car and glanced at me questionably."Aren't you going to go inside?" He pointed at the shop's door.The sound of his voice broke me out of a daze. "I am… I just…" I looked back at him, not knowing how to explain my weird behavior. "I'm going inside right now." I shot him the beamiest smile possible."Fine. I'll wait in the car," he tossed, opening the door on the driver's side."Actua

I changed into jeans and my old sweatshirt. When I finally felt comfortable, I sat on the bed and started staring at my new phone. I was hoping to get a call from Kanan or Martha before tomorrow. I couldn't believe that it had only been a day and I already missed them. I would probably sit like that and wait if it weren't for Beta Ari knocking on my door. I let him in, and once he entered my room, I invited him to sit down."I assume that you and Alpha had a fight?" he asked as soon as I closed the door behind him.I smiled sourly at him. "How did you guess?""I saw him eat his lunch alone, murdering the food on the plate, and then he organized an extra training for his elite warrior squad," he smirked and narrowed his eyes at me."So why are you here instead of training?" I tried to ignore his interrogative gaze."I told Alpha that I would go and check on you. He agreed." Ari grinned cunningly."So I am your way of skipping training?" I chu

I couldn't recall the last time I had such a peaceful sleep. I felt as if all the anxieties around me had decided to go on vacation. My mind was clear, and all the burning emotions were locked away, leaving my heart at ease. I needed that. It was the first time that I woke up at dawn completely regenerated and filled with energy. I was burdenless, although I didn't know where that carefree state came from.Since I had a lot of time before my appointed training, I used it on something I hadn't done for at least a year: I meditated. I slowly began to put all the tiny blocks of thoughts in order, fixing what was broken and healing my pain in the depths of my mind. Once I opened my eyes, I felt different, focused, as if I had entered some space that had been locked for years but was now open.As I was sitting on the floor by the bed, I looked through the window and suddenly saw the details my eyes only yesterday couldn't reach. I could see the different colors of the feath

I had a slight taste of déjà vu once I opened my eyes and saw drops of drip flowing in a plastic tube. I instantly remembered when I woke up in Argent Investment Bank's medical center. It felt similar yet different… What felt similar was the hospital bed, but once I turned my head to the side, I saw a large window and a sunset over a beautiful forest outside. When I turned to the other side, I saw Draven sitting next to my bed. He was asleep. His head was lying on the bed with his cheek near my right hand that he was holding. His grip was tight with a hint of possessiveness in it. Staring at his calm, sleeping face, I started recalling every second of my fight with Brick. Once my mind captured the image of my ripped shoulder, I turned my eyes, trying to check how bad it looked.The whole area around my left collarbone and arm was patched with thick bandages and some stinking, herbal ointment underneath the layers of gauze. I tried to move my arm a bit and