Katherina Blake

“Hello There”

Amara Prince

“Hello, My Name is Amara”

Nadia

“Lovely to meet you”

Sara Marlowe

I am Sara Marlowe

Noelle

“Hii”

Vincent Yurrow

“Who are you?”

Elijah

“Sup”

Jamie Wolffern

The rain wasn’t just falling; it was being driven into the earth like nails, a relentless, freezing sheet that turned the forest floor into a sludge of decaying leaves and mud. My boots sank inches deep with every step, the suction popping wetly as I dragged my weight forward. The safe house—if one could call a rotting trapper’s cabin safe—loomed out of the grey mist like a bruised thumb. "Inside. Now," I barked, my voice rough from the cold and the shouting over the storm. I shoved the door open with my shoulder. It gave way with the shriek of rusted iron hinges, revealing a single room that smelled of dry rot, rat droppings, and the lingering, acrid scent of cold ash. I hauled Lilith in behind me. She stumbled, her balance comprised by the chains binding her wrists and the sheer weight of the Iron Collar clamped around her throat. I caught her by the upper arm before she hit the floorboards, my grip firm enough to bruise if I wasn't careful. Through the soaking wet silk of that ridiculous dress the Prince forced her into, her skin was freezing—cold marble against my calloused palm. "Get a fire started," I ordered Kaelen, one of the two junior guards assigned to this transport detail. He was a brute of a man, wide as a doorframe but currently leaning heavily against the wall, clutching his side. "Sir, the wood is damp," Kaelen grunted, his face pale, sweat beading on his upper lip despite the chill. "And I'm bleeding through the bandage." "Then break a chair," I snapped, releasing Lilith. "Sit," I told her, pointing to a corner away from the drafty door. She looked at me, her dark espresso eyes burning with that silent, venomous intelligence. Rainwater dripped from the end of her nose, tracing the line of her full, pouty lips. She didn't speak—the collar made sure of that, humming with a low, headache-inducing frequency that I could feel in my own teeth whenever I stood too close—but she obeyed, sinking gracefully to the dust-coated floorboards, her spine ramrod straight. I turned my attention to Kaelen. "Let me see it."

Rebecca

He’ll there

Roman Everlynn

Hi how are you