AlessioI'm at Raventhorn Hall, the headquarters of the Knights. It is situated on the grounds of Raventhorn University.This is the place where the Ritual of Initiation is conducted. Here you take the oath, pledging your life to the Knights to live and die by the vows you make.I walk into the ritual hall making my way down the path where Aleksander Ivanov stands at the head.When I gave him my report last night his one request was for me to do this—take the oath again in front of him and the Knights' council.That report included the truth about my father. As I am going to be Aleksander's second in command, Leif thought it wise to tell him and I agreed. I need this man to trust me, so I will tell him all the things I feel he needs to know about me.Aleksander is standing between the stone statue of Raventhorn and the Fountain ofPromises, symbolic of the river the Viking Knights used centuries ago for rituals like this.Around Aleksander are the twenty four members of the Knights' co

CamilleI stare at the rustic red brick wall before me, tapping the bricks with my fingertips to that song in my head.Run and catch, the meadow's calling you home...I tap one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.On the eighth count I blink, then I'm running through the meadow. A bird flies high in the sky, and the sun is bright and warm on my skin, tempting me to chase it. I run toward the sun but it disappears, and blackness swallows me whole.It's so dark, I dare not breathe. I'm too scared that I'll disappear. But I walk on the unseen path before me, terror ravaging my soul.Darkness fills my mind like a thick fog of smoke, suffocating me with theominous feeling of imminent doom.Patches of light flicker in the darkness, and I see it—the crest with the wolf and the moon engraved into it.I try to get closer, but shadow monsters rush out of the darkness, howling and gnashing their teeth like evil souls trapped in the pits of hell.Faceless faces push out of the darkness an

Camille"Since the crest is real, I've been thinking I could be right about the rest of the dream." I sigh. "The parts where the shadow monsters kill me. Of course, I'm not dead and I know the monsters weren't monsters, but if I had a bad experience, I want to know what happened."Worry washes over her face. "Do you think you should? I mean maybe that's why your parents didn't want to talk about it when you brought it up."I nod slowly, feeling a little defeated. "I guess, but I just wanted to know.""Camille, I think you need to take each day as it comes and one problem at a time." She reaches out and covers my hands with hers. "Things are already intense enough with Alessio. You've been thrust into this new life where you're not with Richard and you can't speak to your father. Don't take on anything that's going to add to that stress.""You're right." Playing Nancy Drew is not what I should be doing now with everything else going on."At the same time, I'm not saying you shouldn't d

Alessio"Enjoying your new position?" Richard's tone is infused with sarcasm."Yes, thank you for asking."He shakes his head at me. "You're loving this, aren't you?""What do you want?" I don't have time for this shit. I have things to do and he's the last person I want to speak to."I want to talk to you about Camille.""Why?" A spark of annoyance pulls at my insides but I tamp it down."Really?" His eyes blaze. "Are you serious? It's obvious I'd ask about her.""What do you want to know?" I don't give a fuck how riled up he is, or about his attempt to point out the obvious. He can't do shit, so if he wants an answer from me, he needs to answer the fucking question I'm asking him."I want my girl back."His girl.Hearing him call her that shouldn't create any response in me other than the pleasure I already feel for cutting him down. But something akin to rage stirs in me."Keeping her is ridiculous, and so is marrying her," he sneers. "You have Scarfoni Inc. and I'm sure you can fi

CamilleThe overhead lights come on as we walk into Alessio's office.I take in the antique-looking furniture made of black walnut wood and the glass-paned bookcase to the left that takes up the entire wall.The desk in the center commands most of the space, and rows of shelves filled with books line the wall behind the padded leather chair.This office doesn't seem to suit Alessio. It would be more fitting to someone older. Like Leif. Or Jules Verne, judging from the volumes of classic literature on the shelf about adventures to the center of the earth, the moon, and the sea. There's also an ancient-looking pair of golden binoculars sitting on a tripod by the window.It's all interesting, but I can see that I would have been quite disappointed if I'd succeeded in breaking in.Alessio places his hand to the small of my back. The contact twists my stomach into more knots, and I wonder what the hell I'm going to do.This is bad. Very bad. I don't know what to expect or what more to say