TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter contains themes of depression, anxiety, self-hate, and attempted suicide. Please read with caution. [Queenie] Hiding out in the Marriott isn’t nearly as fun as you might think. Especially when you are trying to hide from one of the most powerful men in the city. Not to self: do NOT piss off Gunner Drake. Again. Even my parents aren’t talking to me at the moment. Apparently, just one nasty phone call from one of their best clients and I’m on my own with a canceled credit card and nowhere to broadcast my latest vlog.

[Faye] "Faye!" Arthur shakes me. "Oh, my god, Faye!" My body convulses as I scream, the feeling of someone ripping my heart from my chest overwhelming all my senses. My body bucks as my vision blurs, Arthur seeming far away, his voice fading. As my vision fades to black, I see Devona on the ground, bleeding, a glowing sword stabbing her through the center of her torso, her eyes losing their shine as the blade pulsates, glowing with the green fire of her soul slowly draining from her body. Just a few feet away from her, Embyr was being held back by Garreth, his eyes glowing gold. The clock on the wall reads 12:42. I come back to myself and see that I'm lying in a large bed, Arthur lying next to me, holding onto me. Feeling the changes in my body, he sits up and touches my face gently, checking me over to make sure I am okay. "Faye," he sighs. "Thank god." He seems satisfied with what he observed. "How do you feel?" "Like someone stabbed me in the heart." "Faye..." "What time is

[Devona] I felt the change in our perimeter before it became visible with the flashing light of a broken spell. Someone has crossed the threshold of my outer wards, breaking them as if they were nothing. And they are still moving towards the house as if pushing aside my magic did not affect them. A dark cloud descended on the house, blocking out the sun. From a distance, the miasma hanging above us might seem like a thick fog, but up close there was fire in these clouds, flame born from anger and death and the claiming of souls. The horsemen have arrived. Nine men on nightmare horses made of pure black smoke, both

[Faye]  As Arthur stands there, gleaming sword in hand, it lights with divine power, glowing blue and lavender and green, flowing around his arm in waves. He points the sword at Embyr’s chest and she backs away, her eyes wide with fear and shock and something else. For a moment, the black slithers away from her eyes, her beautiful brown orbs staring directly at me. My friend is still in there, trapped in a body that has been taken over by a curse and a specter of her former self in an unholy possession created and controlled by the Queen of Light. Embyr. She blinks at me, her eyes pleading.

[Devona] I woke to the sound of a beak tapping on the remnants of the window. I waited, slowly unwrapping myself from Arthur’s arms, the weight of them stretching across Faye and myself as he spooned us both. The tap came again, more insistent, a steady rhythm.  A messenger. Pulling myself free from my lovers, I dress quickly and head outside. The crescent moon is high. The night would be almost completely black in Avalon, but here, in this world, the bright city lights make a perpetual twilight. This makes it easy for me to spot the messenger, a small raven sitting across the way on the small metal rai