It wasn’t until around two in the afternoon the next day that I woke up to my stomach growling in protest. I had had terrible nightmares about the sacrifice and didn’t feel rested despite how late I had slept in. I forced myself to sit up in bed and, leaning back against the pillow, scrolled through my messages and chats. My finger paused on the group chat that Adrian had created with Kris, Vlad, and me. He’d sent an invitation to a party that Renata was throwing tomorrow night at a place called Isles of the Blessed. According to Adrian, Renata was bored with official Gathering events. I couldn’t blame her. After what I’d witnessed last night, I was also desperate for something more normal—preferably with no dead animals involved.

My stomach growled again, as if to let me know I was taking too long. I dragged myself out of bed, pulled on some jeans and a hoodie, and threw on my grey coat before heading out. Vlad had pretty much cleaned out our fridge yesterday while making lunch for everyone, so I wandered around the Court grounds to find somewhere to eat. I soon found myself outside a diner called Quickfood. The front door of the restaurant opened as a couple wearing matching sweaters came out, and I caught a whiff of burgers and fries. My stomach let out another impatient growl.

Quickfood was the perfect name for the diner because within fifteen minutes of placing my order, a cheeseburger, fries, and one large chocolate milk shake were placed in front of me. I felt comfortably alone in the sparsely filled diner. I pulled out my phone and opened the Wattpad application, eager to finish the crime story I had found the other day. It was an odd time for a meal, which explained why the only other customers was a group of five Court Guards sitting at the back.

At least, I had thought they were all Court Guards until one of them leaned back and I could see it wasn’t a guard at all, though she wore the same uniform as the others.

Mom?

I choked on my milk shake.

Before I could even rise to my feet, she stood and quickly left without seeming to notice me. Could that have really been my mom? The woman looked just like her. But why would she be here with Court Guards . . . and dressed like them too? Also, why had she ignored me? Surely she would have noticed me when I walked in. None of it made any sense.

My phone buzzed. There were at least four missed calls from my dad. “Seriously, Dad, what’s going on?” I whispered to myself. After not hearing from him for days, now he was calling incessantly?

I texted my mom,

Where are you? Was that you?

She’d either think I had officially lost my marbles or she’d know exactly what I was talking about.