Sitting in the sun outside my favorite cafe, for the first time in months I felt a sense of peace. Usually when I was alone with my thoughts I felt a sense of panic, but as the sun warmed my cheeks, my brain was finally quiet. I tightened my grip on my coffee and brought it to my lips, closing my eyes as I savored it.

“Can I get you anything else?” My eyes fluttered open to find a waitress hoveri...

Step One: Marry the Prince.

Step Two: Murder the King and Queen.

I wasn’t at all prepared for Step Three.

When I was first asked to infiltrate the palace via marriage to Prince Leone, I was VERY apprehensive. I could not imagine anything worse than marrying someone I did not love, let alone someone I barely knew. Someone who hated my kind, my people. _Me_. But for the greater good, I knew I ha...

Lyra stood motionless amidst the trees, eyes trained on the misty expanse of forest before her. In the unnatural stillness of the afternoon, a large crash from somewhere in the distance had drawn her attention. She couldn’t make out much - fog hung low, filling the empty spaces between the trees, obfuscating her vision.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been walking. She vaguely remembered pavement...

Maria hovered on the shoulder of the highway, red stilettos in hand, thumb stuck out toward traffic. She’d been waiting for a ride for almost an hour - usually she caught one in fifteen minutes or less - and she was starting to lose her patience. She’d nearly given up and started walking when a sleek, silver convertible pulled up beside her. The driver was a young man - maybe a bit older than her,...

His open expression made me want to run into the ocean and drown myself. In the warm light of the setting sun his eyes were golden and fixed on me. I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. _365 days. You won’t see him for another 365 days. _I dug my toes into the sand, averting my gaze.

“How am I supposed to spend another year away?” His voice was soft, so soft I wasn’t entirely sure he’d meant...

“I failed my Statistics test,” I said offhandedly as I slapped a thick, steaming pile of cheesy scalloped potatoes onto my tray. It was my third year of university and by some miracle I still wasn’t sick of the cafeteria food.

“You’re fucking with me,” Jake replied, his arm freezing mid air as he reached for a brownie.

“For once I’m not.” Jake withdrew his arm and shook his head.

“Dude, you’ve ...

I think when I decided to break up with him, I did so assuming it was temporary. Some part of me deep down truly believed we belonged together. I’d never openly admitted to believing in destiny or soul ties or whatever but when it came to him and I… well, I guess I did believe in that sort of thing.

It was stupid, how I ended things. _Why_ I ended things. I just wanted him to miss me. Absence al...

“I love you.” He froze, his back to me. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I doubled down. “I love you.” He was completely still, save for a muscle jumping in his neck. Slowly, he turned to face me, his expression a kaleidoscope of emotions I couldn’t decipher.

“No you don’t.” He shook his head, ran his hands through his hair. Turned away from me again, then turned back. I couldn’t take my eyes o...

The first time Satan came to me, I was fifteen. I’d just had a nasty row with my eldest sister, and I was hiding away in my bedroom, staring down at the moonlit street below. He appeared as if from thin air and beckoned for me to open the window. I hesitated only a moment before acquiescing. He was beautiful, all muscle and sinew and eyes bright as embers. I knew immediately who he was, and yet I ...

I’m not sure when people stopped recognizing me. Maybe it was when I put on fifteen pounds. Maybe it was when I got bangs. Maybe it was when I stopped wearing a full face of makeup every single day. Regardless, one minute I was dodging paparazzi and shrieking fans left and right, and the next I was completely anonymous.

I’d known I wanted out of the music industry upon the release of my most rec...