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Runes. Curved lines, pointed edges...

Of course... on the inside.

Holding my breath, I reached frantically for the large terracotta shard.

Umbra runes.

They seemed strangely familiar. But where had I seen them before?

Chapter 37

Julie

You Were Never Gone

Hannah Ellis

There was a chill in the air when I opened my eyes.

For the third day in a row, I lay here alone.

Bayla and Emely had received instructions from their pack, as well as from Harlow, to stay away from us.

The other girls in the house did their best to keep Larissa away from me. If only they knew that I would rather entrust my life to Larissa than to them.

The fact that Grace now belonged to their group sent an unpleasant ache through my heart.

Only Buddy had made himself comfortable next to me, and I wondered how this warm little furry creature could stand being with me. My hands were constantly cold, so I avoided petting him. Nevertheless, he laid his head on my stomach and listened attentively, bringing tears to my already glassy eyes... every damn morning.

I tried to clear my mind. All of it. Mornings were the only time of day when my head wasn't working yet. It was as if my thoughts weren't spinning in circles yet, rested from the little sleep I sometimes got.

So, I lay there and stared at the ceiling. White, monotonous, and silent.

Was this what it felt like to be dead? Was this how the woman whose life I had taken felt?

She feels nothing, Julie. She's dead.

My phone buzzed.

Immediately, thoughts rushed over me like a tornado, but I quickly grabbed my phone as it buzzed again.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I read that it was Bayla asking if anyone wanted to meet in the secret room today.

Euphoria gathered in my chest.

This place was my only source of information.

I texted her that I would join her, pushed the blanket completely aside, waited for Buddy to take his head off my stomach, and put on some new clothes.

It was getting harder and harder to find something that fit me because the baby was growing fast. It was only a matter of time before the corset-like tops would no longer have any effect.

“Julie...”

Startled, I turned my head and let my gaze wander through the room, dimly lit by my small lamp.

I should have known that these voices were coming from my head, but until now, I had only heard them in Moenia or in the corridors of Vanderwood. Not here.

“Julie...” it whispered again, and I clenched my hands into fists until it hurt.