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August 7 - August 11, 2025
The universe opened a door for me, and who was I to look away? —ANASTASIA WIGGINS
At the end of Oak Leaf Lane, dawn arrived fifteen minutes early. Most folks didn’t notice, as they rarely did about such things, but eagerness circled the air like a hungry buzzard, watching and waiting.
rosy hue, and her glasses hung crooked on her nose. Bristol’s stomach squeezed at how young she seemed, how urgent everything was to
Even now, when she passed someone with warm brown skin and beautiful dark eyes like her father’s,
Do you mean POC or white with a tan?
“No! These matters require finesse, a courting if you will. Let me handle this.” “Are you saying I’m tactless?” Eris replied with silence. Tyghan walked to his
That was the man she wanted to remember, not the one who was broken long before he died.
work. For Harper, for Cat, and even for herself. She kept her dreams small, so they were reachable. Today she would pay the electric bill.
Two days after they moved into the new house, Bristol packed her duffle and left. Maybe that was when the undoing of the Keats family began.
What was he? Second string?
“It’s like he doesn’t want to lose sight of a poisonous serpent, but wants to keep a safe distance too.”
“I’ll think the art over,” he answered. “Think fast. I want it delivered by tomorrow.” Tyghan’s jaw clenched. Or she could be strangled by a king pushed past his limits.
Run and keep running, until the gods die—or you do.
That was the door they needed shut. Fine print, Bristol thought. Always read the fine print.
The king’s eyes burned into him. He’d heard what the demigods were capable of, the things they could turn you into with a mere thought. He didn’t want to leave there as a fly. “About that body … I could have been mistaken.”
“Of course you are. You’re always angry. You’ve just become comfortable with it and can’t see it anymore. Don’t get me wrong, though, I’m not blaming you. My sisters are my world, and I’d be full of rage, too, if anyone hurt them. I’d do anything to protect them, so I think I understand at least part of your anger.”
“Tyghan?” he asked. Winkip nodded. Kierus struggled to control his imagination. What would his one-time best friend do to his daughter?
The patron at the next table scooped another spoonful of stew into his mouth and, at the risk of his life, said, “If I were you, I’d fix that situation.”
She was no longer faking her commitment to the cause—it was hers now too. She especially embraced her weapons training. Tyghan’s words had provoked her. The trows are good at killing. She was determined to be better.
books.” “What about your quirks? You have any?” “Plenty, I’m sure, but that’s a story for Cat and Harper to tell.”
She shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. But it’s better than getting plastered on the grille of a truck.” “Dead is dead,” he answered. “There’s nothing elegant about it.”
“Happiness is slippery. I savor the moments I can.” Her eyes rested in his for a long moment before she dropped the stone into her pocket. “What about you? Do you miss your brother?”
It’s a dangerous game you’re playing. I urge you stop.” Her cat pupils narrowed to sharp points. “More than urge.”
Her mother lied to her. Her mother was fae. It came back to that again. And if Leanna Keats could lie, it meant all fae could lie—including Tyghan.
“I’m well enough, considering,” she answered, and glanced sideways at the ogling partiers. “Ignore them,” he said. “Just look at me. Be with me. Nothing else matters. We’ve done this before, but now we’ll do it better.”
“Are you a goddess who sees into the future now?” “I am the goddess of birth control pills—surely you’ve read about those in your modern works. Now, hurry, go. I don’t want awkwardness, or more gossip. There’s already way too much of that going on around here. And we don’t know who’s there.”
She better understood that protective armor Tyghan reached for again and again. It was a way to keep others at a distance and to shield yourself from more betrayal.
thinking about what he said. When this is all over. Like there was a sequel to this odd story of theirs. A part two. Like they had a future together.
“Do you only love my devious ways? What about me, Bristol? Do you love me?”
Its been like 2 months
“Secrets. They’ve drawn you in already.” She stopped and grabbed Bristol’s hand, holding it tightly between her own. “Elphame’s problems don’t have to be yours.”
“You useless bag of dog bones,” Tyghan whispered close to his silky muzzle. “You betray me for an apple?”
“What about you, Tyghan? You must not regret it either. You’re fucking my daughter, after all.” Kierus was the master of delivery, pairing a smile with a blow meant to knock you off your feet. Tyghan didn’t blink, returning with scathing insinuation, “Yes, I am fucking her. And I don’t regret that, either.”
“You’re telling me he threw away a lifetime of duty for a toss in a bed? He knew her for what? Three weeks? It wasn’t love! No one falls in love that fast! She was a good fuck! That’s all!” Bristol stared at him, her mouth open, breathless.
“Of course,” she answered. A numb glaze coated her voice. “Of course. I’m glad you made that clear. Your Majesty. Good to know.”
“Get out of my room!” Tyghan surveyed the damage, his expression growing darker as he viewed the shattered glass and the overturned table. His nostrils flared. He looked as formidable and dangerous as he had the first time Bristol laid eyes on him. “Until yesterday, this was our room.”
