Page 55 of Third Offense

But the orange drink in my hand certainly tasted like heaven.

I sighed, closing my eyes as I relaxed into the chair again.

“Well, if Novak says to chill, we should chill,” Zian drawled as he collapsed into the chair beside me. “Right, sweet bird?”

“Abso-fucking-lutely,” I agreed as I thumbed the shell necklace that Layla had given me. Although, it was a bit weird to hear that Novak had said the wordchill. That definitely didn’t sound like him.

But he pretty much never spoke, so who knew what he liked to say and didn’t like to say?

Oh, that ocean is so pretty!I thought, distracted by the vibrant blues. “We should go swimming.” Except, we’d tried that and it was kind of cold. “K, maybe not.”

“What the hell is wrong with you all?” Auric demanded.

Sorin rolled his eyes over at Auric, who was starting to become irritating. “Nothing, commander. We’re relaxing. Maybe you should try it.”

I giggled and closed my eyes as Zian murmured his agreement. Because yeah, this relaxing thing was nice. I’d never experienced anything like it before. It was sort of like floating on a cloud with no worries in the world—a strange sensation after spending my entire life in a prison.

Hmm, I hummed to myself, a memory nagging at my mind.Maybe I shouldn’t be relaxing. Maybe… maybe I should focus on… Hmm.

I couldn’t ignore the sensation that something wasn’t quite right. I engaged my healing power, searching for another of Sayir’s tracker-like devices and finding none. He’d used them on us at the last reformatory, perhaps even before that. But I didn’t sense myfather’s—I hated calling him that, but it was his role in my life. Others called him theReformer—infamous tech.

Yawning, I allowed myself to fully relax. And fell, fell, fell, into another fluffy state of happiness and relaxation.Beautiful. Sweet. Hap—

“Raven,” a voice said, drawing me from my cloud of make-believe.

“Hmm?” I hummed, but I wasn’t exactly speaking out loud. No. This was in my mind.

Ugh,I thought, glancing into the darkness and seeing my nightmare come to life.Sayir. He crept forward in all his Nora glory with his white wings, black tipped edges, and benevolent expression.

“I see through you, you know,” I told him, sounding a bit sleep drunk. Because, yeah, this wasn’t real. Just another dream. He’d infiltrated them every night this week, telling me to listen to him.

Nothing is what it seems, he kept saying.Protect Ketos and Layla.

That was how I knew this was all just a stupid nightmare.

Because why the hell would I protectPrince Ketos? From what I’d heard, he was powerful enough on his own. He’d taken Novak down, a feat I hadn’t even known was possible.

Of course, I didn’t see it.

So maybe it was a lie.

Lie, lie, lie, I mused.That’s my life, isn’t it, hmm?

“Raven,” myfathertried again.

“I don’t want to talk to you right now. I’m taking a nap on the beach.” I shooed him away with my hand, the movement slow like I was moving through water.

“You have to protect Prince Ketos and Princess Layla. They’re the key.”

That made me scoff. “You told me Layla was the key. Now there are two?”

“Nothing is what it seems, Raven.”

I snorted. “Yes, you keep saying that.”

“And you’re not listening to me. Open your damn eyes, child. Your life isn’t a fairytale.”

“No, it’s not. Which is why I’m enjoying this reprieve.”