In the darkness of the night, every sound seemed to be amplified. Maeve’s uneven breathing echoed through the empty streets. The corpses swinging in the breeze made Maeve sick- the three women had been left to hang for almost four days now and it showed. The stench was overpowering and Maeve gagged at the smell of rotting flesh. Flies swarmed around them, and one of the women’s mouths had bee...

The first time Mara had eaten someone, she’d sworn it’d never happen again. That night, hunger wracked her body, as if an animal had burrowed itself in her stomach and ate away at her insides. Then, Cassian had purposed an idea. At the time she’d recoiled at the thought- another _human? _How could Cass even think of that? But as her hunger dulled and the beast in her belly subsided, a ne...

The sound of the sirens made Rune’s stomach churn. The overhead lights flickered one last time before plunging the underground city into darkness, and she knew this would be the night thousands would die. The man beside her cussed under his breath. He turned toward Rune, his eyes wild and terrified. “Please! You’re the only one who can get her out.” His hand curled around Rune’s arm. She...

Her screams cut through the night- desperate and terrified- begging for her father. Hiram couldn’t shake the memory or the haunting sound that rang through his head every night.

“Dad!” Myra struggled against the Enforcers holding her down, “Dad, help me!”

Hiram’s heart pounded against his ribs as he found his way through the crowd. Behind him, Roderick bit at his heels, hands stretched out to s...

I knew Charlotte’s face better than my own—the familiar curve of her lively smile, her strong jaw, etched in my memory like stone on a sculpture. Freckles dotted her sun-kissed skin like tiny constellations, tracing patterns now famous in the night sky. Her dark eyes held a quiet mystery in the shadows, but in sunlight, they glowed—a blend of green and honey, with flecks of gold hidden in shades o...

“Never trust a survivor until you know what they did to survive.” The queen’s voice carries throughout the banquet hall, vibrating in Maeve’s chest.

The quiet shuffle of fabrics ruffling together and the clink of crystal wine glasses almost drown out the Queen’s stern lecture. All faces turn to her, their low chatter hidden behind masks of diamonds and bright silks. Covering their snickers with g...

“I didn’t know Grandpa was a Nazi,” Adria snorts, holding up a wooden box.

“What?” Wren marvels, biting back a laugh. She drops the old journal she’s been reading and scrambles to Adria’s side.

Adria traces the Nazi symbol painted on the box, the old red paint flaking off. “I can’t believe he was a Nazi.”

Wren shoulders Adria and rips the box from her hands. “Open it up.” She unties the leather...

It has been a full year since the accident, the night Constant met death. Suffocating next to a corpse, smelly and rotten, haunts her dreams. Her nights are plagued with nightmares of him. It has been a year, yet she still can’t believe he is gone. She knows he isn’t; he is only waiting in the shadows for her to let her guard down, ready to slip back into her life. How poetic it would be, coming...

I stared down at the blood on my hands. “Oh no.” I mutter as I feel the color drain from my face. “I killed the wrong person.” Thomas barrels into the room, his black hair flopping over his pale face. He stared down at the old lady, her blood pooling on the floor. “You shot the target’s grandmother!” “I didn’t mean to!” I whine, feeling the tears surface. “She started asking questions ab...