“Oh babe, you’re wearing a dress. With that bump, I can make you so cute your guys will want to eat you,” Raine chuckles. “Hopefully literally. You look stressed.”
“Raine!” I gasp, hitting her gently on the arm. She laughs like a crazy woman as she drives us into the city. “And for your information, sex is not the problem. It’s—”
“It’s what?” she asks me more seriously.
“Well, I keep dreaming of Bethany and Dawn. Every day, I feel this sense of dread getting worse in the pit of my stomach. I just know something is coming,” I tell her. “And I’m so scared of what it means. I’m pregnant, I can’t fight my sister like this.”
“You will not be fighting anyone. That’s what we have an army for,” she reminds me. “And whatever is coming, you won’t be alone.”
“Raine...I just don’t know how to be at peace while she is still out there, a threat hanging over our heads,” I explain. “And the dreams remind me every night that my sister is gone, and in the shell of her body lies a monster who won’t stop.”
“Then live for the day before the night comes,” she softly suggests. “Make each day count; that’s all we can do.”
“How are you?” I ask her. “Like really, how are you?”
“Missing my dad every single day but knowing he would be proud of me. He is watching over us,” she tells me and covers my hand on my knee with hers. “And he knows I have a family with me. I’m not alone either.”
“No, you’re not,” I reply, holding my best friend’s hand and not wanting to let go.
Chapter 15
Anastasia
Party on the beach.
The white dress littered with flowers hangs on my body, stopping just above my knees, perfectly encasing my little bump. The long sleeves help protect my arms from the cold, and so do my sexy guys standing at my sides. Alex holds one of my hands and Liam the other while Mason walks in front of us, both Phoebe and Skye skipping alongside him as we head towards the party on the beach. It’s a good three miles outside the city, but the noise of the music and the whole city being there can be heard all the way from our hut.
The beach has been transformed with large campfires, bars with colourful lights, and several platforms for people to dance to the music playing from a band. Down the beach, children run around with glowsticks attached to their wrists, giggling as they pass us. Laughter and joy are all you can hear from the people around us, and many of them don’t once look our way as we fit into the crowd. Big rides are littered around the beach, everything from bumper cars to hook a duck. I don’t know how they got these things on the beach or the island to start with, but clearly it is a big hit.
“Going to get glowsticks for the girls. Be right back,” Mason tells us, taking the girls’ hands.
“Cool, man,” Alex replies and grins at me. “Can I interest you in the carousel?”
“Yes!” I shout in joy.
“And next we are going on the Ferris wheel,” Liam whispers to me as we head through the people and join the queue for the carousel. “And I’m kissing you at the top.”
“You have competition,” Alex sneaks in, not missing a beat. Liam playfully punches his arm as Skye runs to me, hugging me tightly around my waist.
“Look! Aren’t they cool? I got you one,” Skye says, showing me her glowstick wristband that has birds all over it in the middle. Phoebe and Mason join us in the queue as Skye clips the wristband onto my wrist. It glows purple, and this one has wolves on it. I grin and hug her tightly.
“I love it,” I whisper to her. She blushes as I let go to move up the queue. Mason wraps his arm around me as Phoebe shows me her wristband, yellow with a turtle design on it, and it makes me wonder what kind of familiar she will get one day. A turtle would actually be a cool familiar for her, and I haven’t seen that many. Though our mum has a cat, and her sisters have wolves. So who knows?
We get to the front of the queue, and I choose a yellow fake horse to climb on. Alex jumps on the one next to me, and the girls quickly claim the ones in front. Poor Mason and Liam get stuck on the small horses a few back, and they look so funny I can’t help but giggle.
“Not funny!” Mason shouts, and we all burst into more fits of laughter. The ride starts blasting the music it gives off before moving, and the horse slowly goes up and down under me. It’s more fun to ride Shadow, but hearing the girls giggling in front of me, knowing my guys are all with me, this is perfect.
The ride goes round and round, and I end up looking over the crowd. I freeze, my blood turning cold when I spot Bethany in the crowd, just standing there. Her blonde hair whips around her shoulders, a black cloak tied to her neck. She smiles like nothing is wrong. Without thinking, I jump off the horse and run off the ride.
“Ana!” Alex roars after me, but I don’t stop. I push the gate open, rushing through the crowd who move out of the way for me. I run all the way to where she is, coming to a halt as I spin around, looking for her, but no one is in a cloak. I spin around and around until I suck in a deep breath, stopping as my heart beats fast in my chest. Alex runs right to me, staring into my eyes, asking what the hell happened.
“Bethany. I’m sure I saw her in the crowd,” I say, shaking my head. “I saw her, I know I
