Clarissa    Muscles ached as Clarissa pushed herself forward. Her breath came so fast and hard that her chest hurt. She couldn’t slow or risk being caught.  Clarissa had been running from Stefan’s crazed hunt for a while. But she hadn’t seen him behind her since the beginning. Not knowing filled her with dread. She didn’t know where he was, what he was doing, or what he wanted. Maybe she lost him. The thought allowed her to slow to catch her breath. A cramp formed in her calf, and she cried out. In that moment of distraction, she felt his stone arms wrapping around her in the same hold he had been teaching her t

 Clarissa “Now, close your eyes,” Centra whispered headily. “Focus on the sensation, the desire to extract the pendant.” When Clarissa’s eyes closed, Centra murmured in the ancient language. Clarissa’s palm tingled and grew warm. Without Clarissa’s guidance, the stream of magic changed the direction of its flow. It swirled through the air as the scarlet and ebony colors diverged artistically, creating their own path. The other colors flowed on wrapped among each other. Slowly the ends of the scarlet and ebony strings moved downward. Soon it poured powerfully into her hand. The immense

  Clarissa   As much as Clarissa wanted to enjoy the scenery as she rode alone today, Stefan’s strange and rude behavior was too much. Her thoughts were stuck on him. She did not realize how much his gargoyle form affected him nor that he should have already turned back. Is that why he left the camp last night? Was he searching for a way to turn back? Intuition told her it was not the entire story. But she had nothing to fill in the blanks. She cared about him and did not like seeing him so wound up. Clarissa genuinely missed the old Stefan, that would joke and mock her as they went through their everyday tasks. His volatile moodiness made him appallingly unpredictable and hard to be around. She was just being compassionate this morning when he blew

Clarissa   Stefan wrapped his arms around Clarissa after his short command. In the next moment, they were rising above the trees. She screamed and clung to his neck for dear life. The ground beneath them threatened a short, tragic stop with an even shorter trip to the afterlife if she let go. “You didn’t warn me!” She scolded against the rushing air as it beat back her voice. He grunted but was focused on where they were headed. Slowly the fear gave way, and the beauty of night woods overwhelmed her. This was why flying improved his mood.  She smiled as her grip relaxed around him. Clarissa scanned the world, taking in every exquis

  Clarissa   Clarissa determinedly hurried to the werecat city where her lonely mother waited for her. She did not know what to expect because the only werecats she met were the ones that she accidentally killed at the farm back home. So when she saw the tall wooden pikes that ominously stretched from one side of the gap in the mountain to the other, intimidation slowed her pace. She couldn’t see what was on the other side of the barricade wall, but the sound of a bustling city carried to her, which was unnerving because she had never been to a city before, not even a human one.  This entire adventure had been a new experience, but she had Stefan or Blake with her until now. She walked slowly forward, staring up at the pointed ends of the pikes with large eyes. The world was enormou