MasukThaliaI lay there, staring at the roof of the truck.By now, I had memorized every little pattern in the metal ceiling, every button, every lever even all the strange parts of the dashboard.I had studied this truck for what felt like five hours, simply because it was easier than thinking.Because the moment I stopped looking at something...My mind wandered and I honestly didn't know how much longer I could keep bottling up everything that had happened before it all exploded at once.I was trying, trying so hard not to replay every single moment in my head, not to think about Emily driving away, not to think about everyone staring at me, not to think about Kaelum, not to think at all.The moment that effort finally failed and I started replaying every scene over again...Someone tapped against the side of the truck. I sat up immediately.When I opened the door, Carl and Emily were standing outside.I looked between them. Just seconds ago I had convinced myself Emily had something ag
KaelumAll fifteen gods stood before me.No one spoke.No one moved.They simply watched me while I watched them back.Their senses were working overtime. I could feel it. They were searching every inch of my estate, every breath of wind, every trace of divine energy.Good, that meant my plan was working.Beliar was the first to break the silence."Where are the werewolves you've been hiding?" he asked. "The ones you've been training to defy us."I let out a short laugh."I have never heard anything more ridiculous in my life. Even an earthling could have come up with a better accusation.""We all know," Beliar continued without letting that settle for a second, "that you have werewolves living here. The same werewolves you disrupted the balance of Earth for by refusing to kill. Even though after many years, you still couldn't keep up."I folded my arms."Then go drag them out yourself, if you're so desperate to see wolves you think are somehow more valuable than yourselves.""Kaelum.
ThaliaI blinked twice.One second I was standing in Kaelum's garage.The next, I was sitting inside the giant truck.I looked around slowly, my heartbeat still refusing to calm.It’s the exact truck. The same oversized truck that had been parked in the garage all this time.A shaky laugh almost escaped me."Seriously?" I muttered under my breath. "If Master was going to throw me somewhere, he could have at least made me lighter instead of teleporting the whole truck."My eyes swept over the steering wheel, the dashboard, the windshield. Nothing made sense, it didn’t even look like I drove it.How exactly did I get here? Did I somehow drive all the way here? Did he teleport both me and the truck?Did he erase part of my memory?Knowing Kaelum, every option sounded possible but I'm grateful to be alive. The moment my eyes drifted past the windshield, my thoughts stopped. Tall grasses stretched on both sides of the lonely road.Beyond them stood a massive entrance leading into another s
KaelumJust when I needed my power the most...It vanished. I let out a slow breath and pressed my fingers against my forehead.Whatever game Divine Authority was playing with me...I couldn't deal with it right now.Why now? Why would I be subdued when the Court was already on their way to take something from me?If they wanted retaliation, then at least let me stand before them properly.Let me fight them fairly.Instead...I looked around my study as another gust of wind slammed against the walls.Books flew from the shelves.Curtains whipped violently.Lightning crawled across the ceiling, refusing to leave.The harder I tried to suppress it...The worse it became.I gave up trying to stand.Instead, I lowered myself into the chair behind my desk and simply sat there.Breathing.Waiting.The Court would arrive soon.They would find me exactly like this.Unable to control the storm raging inside his own house.They would mock me, question me, enjoy every second of seeing me weakened
ThaliaA fight with the gods?That was the first thought that crossed my mind.It made sense.Malia had come here.Aurora had come here.I had overheard enough from both of them to know Kaelum wasn't exactly on good terms with the other gods.Just as I dashed out of the study, I glanced back over my shoulder.I froze for only a second.The room, it looked exactly the way his bedroom had looked that day.The air had turned violent.Dark clouds churned inside the room as though the weather itself had been trapped between the walls. Papers flew everywhere, the curtains whipped wildly, and lightning cracked across the ceiling without making a sound.Kaelum stood in the middle of it.Still and calm, but I knew better now.He wasn't controlling it, he couldn't.For a brief second, I almost ran back.Are you okay?The question sat right on my tongue but I trusted him, I trusted the command he had given me.And more than that, I trusted that Kaelum wasn't a weak god.So I ran, faster than I h
KaelumIt wasn't long after the poisoned wolf intervened and calmed everyone down that the meeting finally disbanded. The entire estate slowly returned to whatever passed for normal around here, but I couldn't let it go.Someone had poisoned one of my strays.That wasn't normal.I finished recording the last few entries in my records before I sensed someone marching toward my house. I caught sight of Thalia storming across the estate.People looked at her as she passed.Some whispered.Others simply watched.She didn't care.For someone who had made it very clear she wanted nothing to do with me anymore, she was walking toward my house with surprising determination.The front door opened.Her footsteps echoed through the hall without hesitation.She didn't wait for permission.She didn't ask where I was.She already knew.I looked toward the study door and waited.A second later, she pushed it open.She looked furious.Not the loud kind of anger.The exhausted kind.The kind that had
Kaelum“Did you take the sacrifice?” Aurora asked over the phone.I paused before answering, my eyes settling on the book barely hanging off the shelf across the room. It tilted dangerously, one more inch away from falling.I stared at it for a moment like my powers would suddenly return out of spi
ThaliaI gasped awake, breathing hard.Instinctively, I tried to touch myself, but my arms wouldn’t move. Panic hit me instantly.That was when I realized I hadn’t even opened my eyes yet.The moment I did, I was met with the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen.Gold colour, not bright gold. Not wa
KaelumA woman stands in front of me. Small. Maybe five foot three. Her eyes are too wide, too bright, stretched beyond fear. Beside her sits a wilted floral arrangement.The offering. My sacrifice.I stop walking.If I’m going to kill a creature, I don’t want them frozen like this. There’s somet
Thalia“No one gives a damn about your dumb-ass excuse, Thalia. Just get it done by tomorrow.”Dylan’s voice cuts through the bar. A beta from the pack, barking orders like he owns the place, as he owns me.But fair enough, he’s about to own me, and that’s why he seems so confident. I want to tell







