#galactic mystics writes

[thearchangelwrites]

for the recent oc ask game, can you do 5. which oc sleeps with the window open vs closed? and 16, which oc is always listening to music?

5. which oc sleeps with the window open vs closed?

The windows of the penthouse don't open, so none of the Osmonds sleep with their windows open. Frankie probably did when she was younger, but now that they have consistent air/heat, she probably doesn't. Jude definitely sleeps with his window open. Cole is a closed window sleeper, can't stand the noise. Eva fluctuates depending on season. Caleb probably sleeps with the window closed. There's more characters, obviously, but that's where I'm gonna cut myself off.

16. which oc is always listening to music?

Dina has a playlist for every occasion, makes playlists for people based on their vibes and what songs remind her of them, and has countless dance playlists. She loves music.

[incandescent-creativity]

Im awful at keeping up with people's works, even if we've been mutuals or ive been following you for a while. I want to fix that, to engage more with the community so

If you dont mind, could you tell me names of your wips, characters and what its about? I want to know about my friend's works so i can send better asks!

Hi! Sorry I let this sit for a while!

THE SOLE PROJECT (Spark Of Life Experimental Project) is my most developed wip. It's sci-fi, in the sense that the plot follows a group of superpowered teenagers as they try to escape the influence of the twisted scientist who grew them in her lab.

Dr. Barbara Agau promised the world she could fight climate change through her hydrokinetic (read: water bender) Beth, but when Beth runs away from the labs she was raised in, Dr. Agau creates other teens with other powers to chase her down and get her back.

LIES IN A HOLY TONGUE (LiaHT) will be my NaNo wip this November, as I condense it from what was going to be a trilogy to one single novel. The story will follow Nora, a San Francisco college student who takes her Guardian angel (and their demon lover) on a road trip to save the world.

THE LORE (Legend Of Reality's End) SERIES is a somewhat less developed story, but that's not entirely my fault because I want it to be a seven book high fantasy series. I have lots of worldbuilding, including maps, and a general outline so we can follow Ash Gentum, cop in name but not in practice, and Zachary Loto, farm boy who got accidentally teleported to the city. Together, they will become diplomats between the nations, and the only ones who will be able to stop the growing threat.

FLOAT is not an acronym, just dramatically always typed in caps. It's the only WIP that has ever come to me in a dream, and now it's a story about a ragtag group of survivors sailing an alien sea. Specifically, Aspen the bisexual pirate captain plucks River up out of the water, but River 1. has all her memories of Earth, unlike the rest of the crew, and 2. is a shapeshifter. So there's that.

[365runesoftheamalgamations]

Happy sts!

Pick a main character. They just got dropped into the world of the last show or movie you watched. Are they fucked or having fun?

hello and how are you, fellow Wanderer?

Thanks for stopping by, sorry that we are getting to your ask a little bit late, but it is the eve of another Storyteller Saturday, so it's totally fine! Onto your ask!

For A Magician & A Curse

Intro Post | Writing Tag

The last thing that we watched was the Tales from Earthsea - Miyasaki and Ghibli, our beloveds - and honestly, I think that Rune would do so good within the World. It would honestly be a bit better than Navamora, and she went through the "end days of unbalance" within Navamora, so if she had to survive within Earthsea, then she could easily do it.

She would probably like Ged and would know the struggles of Arren, honestly. She would probably be a good companion, though she might just stick to the background, bc she is more than done doing all of the work, she doesn't mind if someone else fixes things and lets her not be the center of attention.

She would probably just stay on the farm with Tenar. ~ヾ(＾∇＾)

This ask motivated 572 Words of Random Writes!

Into the Word Box: 1,790 Total Words

[itsthislake]

Old Friends.

Long story short, I saw this post and got possessed by the shuggy spirit.

Credit goes to galactic-mystics-writes for the poem(? text? this is a poem right?). Enjoy!

Support me on Ko-fi?

Extra:

[tubborucho]

Tommy and Tubbo – Pages: How to melt your essence with someone’s soul

taglist: @pastelvangelion @smallz-o @salineroses @dynamicworms @cindersnows @deadfishisyeq @snyland @missstrawberry @frubbotoxicyuri @haloberry @thecardboardbutterfly @avianchorus @qtubbo @an-egghead @codaattheend @mikaikaika

dm me if you want in or out of taglist

credits:

Prologue

1. “time collapses. love takes your hand and leads you from the world” layla starr

Page 1

2. “Imitations of Drowning” Anne Sexton

3. @.insomniac-arrest

4. https://twitter.com/sainticide/status/1476212797369319424?s=21&t=iGrZnWG5aLGizZ_iGCZR4A

5. “Twenty-One Ways of Leaving” Koleka Putuma

6. https://pin.it/4Iy5VQI

7. @.dvoyd

8. http://hollowworld.co.uk/threads/halvar-vignette-s.55468/post-829118

9. “If There’s A Way Out I’ll Take It” Lora Mathis

10. “Selected Letters of Martha Gellhorn; in a letter to Hortense Flexner and Wyncie King” Martha Gellhorn

Page 2

11. https://pin.it/1QpJ0iz

12. https://pin.it/6WwyKF6

13. “Wayward son” Tyrannus Basilton Grimm-Pitch

14. https://pin.it/5Mgyjhs

15. @.galactic-mystics-writes

16. @.dazzlingtiredeyes

17. “The Next Time We Talk on Facebook” Clementine von Radics

18. N/A

19. Fall Out Boys – Young Volcanoes

Page 3

20. https://pin.it/3Nxa6eV

21. “Jesus Texts” Pádraig Ó Tuama

22. @.codaattheend

23. https://pin.it/3YFQf7P

24. by Edward Lee

25. “The Five Stages of Grief” Linda Pastan

26. “A song for a lover of a long time ago” Bon Iver

27. “Icarus || Percy Jackson” SarcasticSunshine

28. https://pin.it/59O2ivf

Page 4

29. “Selected Letters of Martha Gellhorn” Martha Gellhorn

30. @.aretherestarsinhell

31. “One Last Poem for Richard“ Sandra Cisneros

32. “Poem of the End” Marina Tsvetaeva

33. https://pin.it/7mGA0UT

34. https://pin.it/1TKqm7d

35. “Norwegian Woods” Haruki Murakami

36. by Friedrich Nietzsche

37. “For Your Own Good” Leah Horlick

Page 5

38. “When Rome Falls” Yves Olade

39. https://pin.it/5CnTcJ9

40. “Whatever You Need” Marley C.

41. @.eridan-ampora

42. “Pillow Thoughts by Courtney Peppernell” Cierra

43. https://pin.it/e9k4bKp

44. “Sunstone” Octavio Paz tr. by Elliot Weinberger

45. by Kiersten White

46. https://pin.it/1i7tkZg

47. https://pin.it/4S39jLe

Epilogue

48. @.jovialtorchlight

All the other little pictures are free stickers from PicsArt

[jbk405]

I think I've found one of the key reasons why I prefer the old Expanded Universe to the current Star Wars content: Unique types of villains.

More specifically, people who weren't just Evil Force Users With Long Robes And Red Lightsabers. While there were always a few Darth Vader-clones that popped up to fill up space, so many of the Arc Villains were distinct not just in personality, but also how they were dangerous.

Grand Admiral Thrawn was a military tactician, which wasn't the point of any of the main villains in the Original Trilogy. Grand Moff Tarkin was a "Build a bigger superweapon and bludgeon the galaxy into submission" kind of villain, and Vader and the Emperor were mystical dark wizards. This isn't a complaint or criticism, but just pointing out that military tactics were never on display in the films since that wasn't the type of story they were telling. But Thrawn didn't have prophetic powers or Destiny, he had to analyze and plan around what he could learn about his adversaries. It's a different type of fight than Literal Magic. In the original Thrawn Trilogy, Captain Pellaeon frequently internally narrates how different Thrawn's style of leadership was to either Vader or the Emperor (Even if his art-analysis did verge on magic by itself).

Ysanne Isard was a political and/or espionage manipulator, which was even less a point of the Original Trilogy than military tactics were. She took advantage of the realities of actually needing to build a nation out of an underground military movement. With all of the dirty gutter politics, self-serving agendas, and logistics that doom so many revolutionary movements. I'm not as big a fan of her arc as I was when I was younger (I re-read the Rogue Squadron novels a few years ago and the writing quality is not as good as I remember, and Isard's plans frankly don't hold a lot of water), but the concept is still fantastic.

Warlord Zsinj on the surface seems like a merger of Thrawn and Isard -- he's a military commander who specializes in espionage -- but he also has a big focus that neither of them demonstrated: Business. While he still blows stuff up with his giant space ships and is sowing dissent through brainwashing and spycraft, he's simultaneously establishing a galaxy-wide network of completely-legitimate commercial businesses that he owns through untraceable pseudonyms. They fund his campaigns, give him influence on planets outside of his direct control, and allow him to control resources without any of his adversaries even being aware of it.

Even one-shot enemies like the Ssi-ruuk were so unique: They're invading the galaxy because their technology is powered by living souls and they want to harvest all life in the galaxy. That's messed up, and so distinct from the general "Take over the world" motivation of the Empire.

But as time went on, more and more of the enemies were just "Darth Vader Again". Another Jedi who fell to the Dark Side, or another long-lost schism of the Sith who rediscovered mainstream galactic society, or some other thing that is eventually resolved by a one-on-one lightsaber duel and a personal grudge against the Skywalker or Solo families. It definitely felt like they were out of ideas and kept running through the same villains over and over again.

This kicked into high gear after the Prequels came out, and continued in the new continuity after the EU was rebranded as "Legends".

I wish we could go back to the idea that there could be an enemy who wasn't super powerful in the force and consumed by Hatred Of The Jedi. With their own skills, their own methods, and something that makes them more than just another wannabe-Sauron. Pirates who are just pirates, marauding ex-Imperial Warlords who are just marauding ex-Imperial Warlords, and corrupt politicians who are just corrupt politicians, instead of revealing that Palpatine returned (somehow) all over again.

[vacantgodling]

blorbos from my friend's brains

hi inspired by this post i wanted to shout out some of my friendos ocs that i am extremely abnormal about :DD

@kudzucataclysm's vincet, dez, tobi and thoorsday (he's awful, i know but brain is not smart :DD)

@void-botanist's thade and marcus (so many of their ocs but i rotate these two like an abnormal amount. i <3 the polycule shenanigans)

@ink-flavored's pride & justice because obviously

@shadescrawls's lucky is the newest love of my life <3

@henrike-does-writing-sometimes's divine boys (all of them) + samir + anruh & ruben im INSANE about these two

@multi-lefaiye's eden and twice obvs but also thinking muchly about jackrabbit currently

@jezifster's camden and gabe but bc i'm horny i am sorry--

@galactic-mystics-writes's zenith & rosemary beloveds

@sarahlizziewrites's silas!!!! him!!! and jaques <3<3

@mjjune's helio and danny BELOVEDS

@outpost51's dillon and atria <3

annnnnd that's all i can think of off the top of my head tbh. if i forgot someone i'm sorry memory bad and if i didn't mention you this is an excuse to come into my inbox RIGHT NOW and make me obsessed with a guy of your choosing

[leafatlaw]

Keeperchampion, On ex best friends and losing more than you ever had

tumblr post by @/chateauofmymind// Never Let Me Down, Depeche Mode// tumblr post by @/galactic-mystic-writes// Unknown// San Cristobal, Mal Blum// Unknown// tumblr post by @/tiredbtw// Richard Silken, War of the Foxes// JRWI Blood in the Bayou, Epsiode 4

[moon-and-seraph]

Directory of Tag Game Friendly Blogs

This is a list of original fiction writers who are open to being tagged in tag games by anyone, whether you're mutuals or not.

If you're looking to make new friends, struggling to tag enough folks, or want to share the tag game with more of the writeblr community, check back on this updating directory to find people you can tag!

How do I join the list?

To be added, reblog this post and let us know somewhere in your post or tags that you’d like to be added. (If you'd like to be removed for whatever reason, you can reply to this post or send us an ask/message!)

Look through the updating directory below!

Tag Game Friendly Blogs:

(Please be aware that some of the blogs below may belong to minors and some may be 18+ only. It's up to you to ensure you're only tagging those you're comfortable interacting with.)

(updated as of: 1/24/2024)

@saintedseraph

@anoelleart

@mysticstarlightduck

@avoidingcertaindoom

@new-royston-cursebreakers

@silviathebard

@goinggremlin

@fleurtygurl

@fire-but-ashes-too

@holdmyteaplease

@kooperation1101

@athenswrites

@loopyhoopywrites

@skyderman

@cat-esper

@stesierra

@justnerdy15

@sparrow-orion-writes

@phynewrites

@alnaperera

@galactic-mystics-writes

@sam-glade

@aether-wasteland-s

@wingedcatgirl

@bellascarousel

@void-botanist

@nascentmorimur

@everthewip

@dancinginsepia

@cosmo-lexies

@serendipminiewrites

@1legitconnor

@valentinerose529

@innocenthedgehog

@koala2all

@harleyacoincidence

@ghostreader16

@the-ravens-requiem

@scmalarky

@elliot-the-writer

@serotoninshift

@reading-by-the-pale-moonlight

@worldsfromhoney

@maddstermind

@halleyuhm

@bassguitarinablackt-shirt

@forthesanityofstorytellers

@dontjudgemeimawriter

@eli-writes-sometimes

@lynsterswritingblog

@iambecomeabook

[illarian-rambling]

Thanks for the tags @mysticstarlightduck @theink-stainedfolk and probably many more!

Wip Aesthetic Tag

Rules: Make a moodboard for your WIP, a playlist (3+ songs/music will suffice but it can be as long as you want) and describe the Vibe of your WIP.

Oh god, I'm really bad at aesthetic stuff. No clue why, I just feel like it's never cohesive. That said, here's my best stab at Mystery of the Mortal God.

⚙️Moodboard🌿

🎵Music🎶

Instrumental (pulled from my character playlists):

Flight of the Silverbird

Ponyo's Sisters

HUNGRY!

Exclusive Coupé

A Murder of Crows

Wings (Aether 2)

The Quiet Earth

Vocal:

I Want to Conquer the World - Bad Religion

Supersonic - Bad Religion

Harlan Road - NewTown

Black Lipstick - Chicano Batman

The Reckoning - Dom Fera

Norwegian Wood - Buddy Rich Big Band

Call me Call me - Steve Conte

🩸Vibes🏵

A walking, steam-powered vardo lurches over a yellow-flowered marsh and under a sky of curious stars. Red, sparkling smoke rises from its chimney. Muddy footsteps are left in its wake like the trail of a mechanical dragon. It seems like a place of magic, which is fair, as it's the home of a witch. She sits with a lit pipe and a tabby cat purring on her lap, quietly contemplating a distant, stolen song. Even in the peace of the moment, her mind is alight with grand schemes and dreams of adventure.

In the capital of a thousand peoples, there stands a detective office lit by golden lamps. It's busy - goblins, elves, and lizardfolk rushing every which way in hopes of managing the many crimes wrought by rogue mages. At its heart resides a beat of calm in the eye of the storm - an opulent office out of place for its cushy decorations and color coding fit for a palace. This is also fair, as working at its desk is a prince of sorts. The prodigal heir to divine contracts and a deadly curse. He shudders at the knowledge of his bloody fate, yet pursues it nonetheless.

On the side of a lonely road, in a lonely land, under stars that are not curious, but disappointed, lays a wreck of bronze and steel. It bleeds black on green. It is confused by this. Where is the red? Where is the pain? It remembers another place - gray and icy and riveted. It remembers two eyes surrounded by shadows and a grin hanging in the dark like a half-moon. Hate closes in like a frigid wind, piercing through any amount of heart or compassion. It will have revenge.

Tropes include slow burn romance, revenge quests, magic as a science, and mad scientists. Genre is fantasy steampunk.

Snappier character descriptions include a braggadocious redneck mage with a chip on her shoulder the size of a mountain, a prissy, gossip-loving detective with a deadly curse, and a sweetheart of a maybe-robot with some terrifying instincts hidden behind a fog of amnesia. All of them, due to personal quests, will end up banding together to defeat a would-be demigod, facing cunning traps, summoning ritual shenanigans, and their own conflicting personalities. Will they survive? Will they join the villain? Who's to say? All I can assure is that if they fail, it'll at least be in a blaze of glory.

Heavily inspired by the Foundryside Trilogy and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

I'll tag @spideronthesun @kaylinalexanderbooks @ominous-feychild @galactic-mystics-writes and anyone else who wants to play!

[thearchangelwrites]

Nightshade and antidote please?

Nightshade: How would the story change if it was told from the antagonist's pov?

The tangoverse is slice of life, so there's not a true antagonist; if there was, it might be the universe itself, and that point of view would be something indeed.

Antidote: What is your revision/editing strategy?

I still haven't decided if I'm going to revise or edit. It's a story I'm writing for me. I'm also an edit-as-I-go girlie for the purposes of SPAG, scene continuity, and thematic drive. If I feel like something could contribute to the theme in a scene I've already written, I will just go back to it right now while the thought is fresh.

[incandescent-creativity]

Happy sts!

Is there an author or work that you think was particularly influencial on your style, works or viewpoints on writing?

Yes actually! I was surprised to find during my reread of Eragon just how much Paolini’s writing style had influenced my own. I’ve talked about it before here, but my early writing basically just. Copied his style? Which makes sense because it was really great to read when I was starting to write in middle school.

I’ve also enjoyed King books for a long time and I liked reading his book On Writing. I’m due for a reread tbh to see if I can get anything else from it.

[365runesoftheamalgamations]

🌹🌹🌹

hello and how are you, fellow Wanderer?

thanks for stopping by, chiquite! it's nice to see ya around and just for ya, we'll give ya three solid sentences of a of something of a mystery!

Ask Game In Question! c:

The group gives a mix of raised brows and confusion, and he ignores the pointed stare of Emilia as he focuses on Cast. "Change of plans; you're on transport duty, Cast. Get us out of here." Cast throws up his arms, a small noise of complaint lifting as he gestures at the woman.

This ask motivated 145 Words of Random Writes

Into The Word Box: 145 Total Words

[sliceoflifeshepard]

Hey guys

I just wanted this to be my full formal apology. I've been needing to write this for a few months and I think I was blocked from the right words to say, out of anger and my own struggles. Let me explain

I started this blog last year to get away from writeblr drama and like, some people I considered friends who we all turned on each other and now no longer speak to each other.

I admit I have a part to play in the blame, what I said and did was wrong and I pushed some very important people away when I didn't intend to. I'm learning to be a better person and learning from my mistakes because sometimes I don't understand things and they're not really explained well.

I thought what I was doing, was helping people but maybe I wasn't doing enough, or I was doing too much of the wrong thing. All I know is, looking back on it - I was wrong. And I was too hurt to see that.

I only want to make writeblr and my friends and everyone else, happy. I want writeblr to be a nice place for everyone to get along with, to get feedback and support and all that jazz.

That doesn't make things better. I know I can't go back and repair the bridges that have been burnt and I can't repair those relationships. But just know that I am very sorry if I ever came across as rude or weird. It was not my intention.

Looking back, I could have done things a lot better and through learning things about myself, I've learned that I need to do better. I want to understand. I want to help.

Words can't describe how sorry I am and I know that won't bring anything back. But hopefully we can look to the future now. I want this year onwards to be a good year for everyone I'm friends with, with those who want to get to know me. I don't want to fall out.

I've met so many wonderful people and I really owe everything to you guys. Ya'll are amazing.

Thank you

Ash Shepard, formerly Athena Anna Rose

@albatris @abalonetea @antique-symbolism @bardicbeetle @blackandwhitecircus @blackrosesandwhump @bard-coded @digital-chance-rb @dyrewrites @endlessburningdarkness @emery-silverton @foxy-lisard @galactic-mystics-writes @garthcelyn @hallowedfury @hippiewrites @icaruspendragon @irilenaps @insidedamienshead @illarian-rambling @isabellebissonrouthier @joshuaorrizonte @jezifster @kalu-chan @kosmic-kore @multi-lefaiye @midnight-blue-moon-princess @midnight-and-his-melodiverse @pheita @pluttskutt @philosophika @pen-of-roses @revenantlore @scribble-dee-vee @sergeantnarwhalwrites @thorlokibrother @that-chibi-writer @theprissythumbelina @uccelletto-di-kokuyo @violetcancerian @vacantgodling @waltzshouldbewriting @wait-a-minute-lassie

[tabswrites]

Writing Share Tag

Tagged by @oh-no-another-idea here!

Tagging: @pheita @pandoras-comment-box @paintedbutton @galactic-mystics-writes

@the-down-upside-finch and an open tag!

I had my first date in two years last night and I’m feeling cheesy so here’s Mara being very normal about Hettie (not):

Mara straightened her back and let her eyes sweep over the smaller woman. Her eyes were like glittering charcoal, flickering with fire that was too timid to burn. The way she drew herself inwards, making herself even smaller under the weight of someone’s gaze, it spoke to her.

She remembered the way she shied away from her stepfather before he had even stepped into the room. Her voice, so light, so curious, turned to breathless sputtering in his presence. She was stifled in that house, that much was clear–but her touch was everywhere, from the delicate vines and flowers painted across every surface to the handwritten signs in her garden out front.

It was comforting to be in the presence of another who lived in spite of others. She cleared her throat and swept a hand across her forehead, pretending as if a non-existent malady had robbed her of her ability to speak.

ToL tag list: @outpost51 @writernopal @avrablake @writingrosesonneptune @theroseempress (please ask to be +/-)

[toribookworm22]

One Big:

Whatcha Been Writing

In the spirit of actually cleaning up my hoarded tags, I am combining not 1 but 52 Last Lines, Heads Up Seven Ups, and other miscellaneous related tags into a mega-share.

Thanks @thepedanticbohemian @writeintrees ×2 @saltysupercomputer ×2 @winterandwords ×3 @oh-no-another-idea ×3 @writernopal @pluttskutt @late-to-the-fandom @akiwitch ×3 @ashen-crest @sunset-a-story @ashwithapen @briannaswords @flock-from-the-void @bubbles-the-banshee ×2 @kaiusvnoir @scifimagpie @chainsaw-raven @axl-ul @primroseprime2019 ×3 @acertainmoshke @magic-is-something-we-create @rubywrite @reading-by-the-pale-moonlight @sam-glade @galactic-mystics-writes ×2 @authoralexharvey @frankensteinshimbo @sergeantnarwhalwrites @surroundedbypearls @frostedlemonwriter ×2 @theunboundwriter @sparrow-orion-writes @forthesanityofstorytellers @buffythevampirelover @digital-chance ×2 @cljordan-imperium @olivescales3 for all your tags!

I am just leaving one giant OPEN TAG!! ♥️

And for my share, have an excerpt from Chapter 10 of the second book of my Secondary Series. 🙃

The guards stationed at the entrance barely have time to see us before J has a knife in each of their throats. She retrieves them before they’re even dead as Vieve forces the doors open.

I want to be angry. Or shocked.

But all I can see is Edward frantically trying to save me while I died on some expensive rug. He’s the only person who’s actively and always chosen me.

Who has ever chosen him?

The wind is even fiercer than before. But before I can even dread the trek back to our safe house, there’s a vehicle pulling up and a voice calling out, “Get in!”

“Courtney?” I dare to ask.

Her bright head of hair appears from the driver’s side as the back is opened up. “Hey, there. Let’s catch up on the road, barkeep.”

We all collapse against the thin walls of the transport, a woman in white reattaching the flap before calling out to Courtney, “All clear, let’s go.” The engine revs, and we start an angry path forward. 

The sudden movement rolls my stomach and I fall onto my hands, spitting up more bile and poison. After a couple of heaves, I feel a hand softly press into my spine. It almost makes me feel safe. A gentle hand when I’m hurting, a soft towel wiping at my mouth, two voices I never get to hear again. Then I throw up again.

“Hey. You’re alright.” I glance up at Edward, his legs thrown out beside me. His face is already scarred from where the gag dug in. I want to say something, but I can’t figure out what. I’m just seeing him fall into the grass and seeing his sister get up and never come back and taking one last look at his sleeping form in his bed. “We made it out.”

The woman in white kneels in front of me with a scrap of something and starts cleaning up my mess. I stop her with a quivering hand. “I got it,” I say.

She smiles at me, even if her bright star-shaped eyes are almost empty. “I don’t do anything I don’t want to do anymore. Courtney helped me. Let me help you.”

The fabric rustles and shifts, revealing the front of the vehicle and Courtney’s back. “Seriously. What were you guys doing there? I didn’t think you were going to make it out. Especially after Ani went down.”

“Supply run,” Casa tells her.

“You went to Alswik for supplies?” Courtney asks, incredulous. “Don’t you still have a contact at the base?”

Edward’s hand falls from me. “Don’t work with them anymore. And you’d be smart to do the same before it gets you killed.” He watches Ani kick the vomit-stained fabric into the corner of the vehicle. “You and the people you love.”

Without slowing down, Courtney takes a long look back at us. “Thanks for the concern.” She looks back at the road. Ani walks carefully to the front to sit as close to her as possible. “Now where am I dropping you off?”

…

I offer to help Ani hide the vehicle under a cover of leaves and brush as best as possible while the others plan routes to the safe house and the ship. It’s not safe to travel in a big pack when Alswik could possibly have people after us. Or Insignia could have people on their way. While we work, I hear Edward pull Courtney aside, his voice low but insistent. “Listen. You are more than welcome to stay the night on my ship before you keep moving. But you breathe a word of this to Kat and I’ll have you boxed up and sent to Adenrore.”

“I just came to get Ani, Rescue. I’m not here on her orders. Or anyone’s.”

“I can’t risk you traveling with us.” He glances at the woods we’ve stopped in, halting on me for a moment. I snap my gaze back to the brush I’m pulling over the wheels. “And you shouldn’t risk it either.”

J and Vieve take the woods, Edward and Casa following the stream nearby. I offer to travel with Courtney and Ani through the overpass.

There’s still something in my system, even as the daylight fades away. I’ll probably be throwing up through the night, too. But at least the last thing I saw wasn’t the terror in Edward’s eyes. Seeing him worried like that is a fate worse than death. But it’s all I can think about as we walk over dirt and grass and rocks. All I can think about is how Imre made sure Edward was always front and center in front of him, how desperate he seemed to ignore everyone else. How badly I failed at keeping him safe.

“He’s going to get you killed,” Courtney says.

The sun has just begun to set and I can see the cabin Edward calls their safehouse emerging from the thick of the trees below us. I think of all the times Edward has been the one at my side, wrong or right or everything in between. “I’d follow him anywhere,” I whisper into the wind.

Courtney just sighs. Like that’s the response she expected. Dreaded. Something else. I don’t know what kind of history they have, I don’t know who Kat is or why neither of them seem to be working for her anymore. But I do know Edward. “And that’s why.”