I smile as Harrison wakes up, and looks over at me, yawning. My dress and corset are on the floor, so I’m just wearing a tank top and a pair of shorts. It was really warm last night.

“Morning,” Harrison says, moving closer, and putting his arms around my waist. I smile, and kiss his forehead, as he buries his face in my neck. He has a tattoo on his shoulder, a dragon or something. “Can we have chocolate cake for breakfast?” He asks, and I chuckle. 

“That would be amazing,” I answer with a chuckle, and stand up, slipping out of the bed. “I’ll go get it,” I promise, and he grabs my arm, pulling me back for another kiss before I leave. After an incredibly healthy breakfast in bed, I go back to my room to get dressed for the day, grinning. Someone likes me, and I like them, I think, putting on a pink dress. 

Harrison is reading a notebook on the couch when I leave my room, now wearing a shirt. His hair is still messy, though. He smiles when he sees me, and I sit next to him. 

“I’m just rereading my notes about your powers. If you want to hang around, I just have to stay focused,” He tells me, nibbling the end of a pencil. I look out at the stormy sky. It’s stopped raining, though it does look chilly. 

“Can I go walk on the beach and try to practice on my own?” I ask. “I’m getting better at it,” I tell him. He looks up from the book. 

“Stay safe, okay, love?” He asks, and I nod. He squeezes my hand before I grab a sweater and tie my boots up. It’s windy as I make my way along the beach, over to the cove. 

There are other people there as I enter. Julia Montgomery, my rival, and a pretty blonde girl I don’t know. Julia spots me as she looks away from talking to her friend, and her jaw drops. 

“Olive?” She asks, and her friend turns to look at me too. 

“Julia,” I say, my arms folded. I have to get out of here. Come on, Olive, get out of here. Julia runs over and hugs me, and I flinch. This is weird. “What are you doing?” I ask. She stares at me. 

“Olive, are you okay?” She asks, pulling away.

“Why do you care? You hate me,” I tell her. Her brows furrow. 

“No, I don’t. We became friends during the competition, remember?” She asks, blinking. “Angel put me up to being mean to you. We’re friends, Olive.” I get a headache trying to remember. 

“I’ve… had amnesia, since a while ago,” I explain. “Sorry, I don’t remember much about the competition, or much after that.” Julia nods. “Who’s this?” I ask, pointing, as Julia gapes at me. 

“My girlfriend, Hazel, I- Where are you staying?” Julia asks me, blinking. Hazel waves. I should head home. The storm is coming back. 

“I really should be at home,” I mumble, and smile at her before walking out of the cove quickly. That’s weird. How could I ever be friends with someone like her? I think. As I run up to the house, I spot a small orange flower growing in the dirt. Hey, that’s a pimpernel flower. It’s cute. I think. 

“Hello,” I say to Harrison, who looks up from his notebook. 

“That was quick, love,” He says, fixing his cute glasses. 

“I saw people at the cove, so I decided to head back,” I say quietly. 

“D-did anyone speak to you?” Harrison asks, sitting up. 

“It was weird, it was Julia, from the competition,” I answer. “She said we were friends, for a while,” I tell him, with a shrug. Harrison shakes his head. 

“You two hated each other the whole time, I remember you telling me about it when I was in your head,” Harrison answers. “She’s on Angel’s side. We’ll have to relocate far ahead of schedule,” He stands up. 

“Relocate?” I ask, my jaw dropping. 

“I guarantee Julia would watch where you went. She’s just waiting for a moment of weakness to take you to Angel, or kill you,” Harrison picks up a phone from the corner of the room, and dials into it. 

“Where are we going?” I ask. 

“I’ll explain everything soon, love, go pack. There’s a duffel bag in your closet. Essentials first.” I nod, stepping back. “Wyatt,” He says into the phone. “We’re moving tonight, bring the truck. I don’t care if it’s weeks ahead, Olive’s in danger.” Harrison hangs up after a bit, then turns to me. “It’ll be okay.” 

“How bad is the danger?” I ask, swallowing. 

“Knowing Angel, she’ll have you publicly executed. We have to get you out of here before they catch you. Stay near me,” Harrison advises, and I nod, as he leads me by the hand into my room. He pulls out a duffel bag, and puts a coat into it, then shoes and socks. “Get warm clothes, okay? And toiletries,” I nod, and he kisses me before going and closing the drapes. 

“Okay,” I mumble, and put in the warmer dresses in the closet, and some fresh underwear, then the toothpaste and deodorant from the bathroom. 

“Perfect,” Harrison tells me as he comes back in with his own duffel.

“Where are we going?” I repeat. Harrison sits down on my bed, sighing. 

“The capital. We’ve just alerted the revolutionaries to move today, we’re going for the palace,” He explains, and I go to sit next to him, nodding. “Your safety is my biggest concern, so I’ll have you near me.” 

“Right, you want me nearby because of safety,” I tease in a sarcastic tone, and Harrison chuckles, an arm around my waist. 

“And some other reasons,” He mumbles, kissing my earlobe. 

◈◈◈◈

A phone call comes at nine in the morning, and Ember answers it. “Yes?” She asks, then her brows furrow. “Yeah, he’s right here,” She says, then turns to me. “It’s Julia, asking for you,” She says, offering me the phone. 

“She hasn’t called in a while,” I mutter, standing up, and putting the phone to my ear as Ember walks off. “Hello?” I ask. 

“I just ran home, Cai, you won’t believe it,” Julia pants, sighing. 

“What happened?” I ask. I can hear her breathing heavily. “Calm down.” 

“How am I supposed to calm down, when I saw Olive today at the beach?” She asks. I drop the phone onto the ground. The cord pulls the phone’s port towards the edge. 

“What is it?” Ember asks, picking up the phone, and setting it down, pressing the speakerphone. “Julia, what’s going on?” Ember asks, as I stumble backwards towards the table. Flint watches me. 

“Olive’s alive. I talked to her just before calling you,” Julia pants. Ember gasps, and Flint’s head snaps up. “I think she could be in danger. My girlfriend Hazel is watching their house, and two guys just drove off an armored truck that I saw her get in,” Julia explains. 

“Girlfriend?” Isaiah asks, and everyone shushes him. 

“Do you know where they’re headed?” Flint asks, walking over quickly. 

“Not sure. Hazel said they got on the motorway heading north,” Julia answers, sighing. “Is Cai okay? I haven’t heard from him,” She asks. I nod slowly, unable to speak. 

“He’s a bit stunned, but he says he’s fine,” Ember says. 

“I’ll update you when I have more information,” Julia says, and hangs up. I start to fall, and Flint moves forward, pushing a chair within reach of me. Tears fill my eyes, and I grin. She’s- she’s alive. 

“I’m going to go tell Casey the news,” Ember says, and sprints from the room. I put a hand over my mouth, laughing as my eyes go blurry. 

“Don’t get up hope, Caden,” Isaiah mutters, walking over. “It could be a ruse, and think of how much you’ve grown since she died. You don’t want to lose all that when you see it’s fake,” 

“I don’t have to listen to you,” I say with a grin, and run out of the room. I have to get my glasses out again. And a book. We were supposed to pick a book to read before- I run faster, and Casey finds me in the hallway, beaming. 

“Ember just told me. Is it true?” She asks, sniffling. 

“Yeah,” I say, and Casey throws her arms around me, weeping and laughing. I hug her tightly, smiling. “She might be in danger though, so once we get her to safety, then you can see her,” 

“As long as I get to see her,” Casey sobs, falling to the ground, and laughing, running her fingers through her hair. 

“We’ve got word that she’s at the palace,” Julia says, as we meet her on Metal Island, a ruin with no life nearby. Rumors are that it’s still burning. “The thing is, it’s not Angel there. She and her husband have been imprisoned by another revolution based in Fire,” She explains. “I know they’re keeping Olive safe,” She adds. 

“Good,” I answer, nodding. My knee bounces up and down, and Julia folds her arms, watching me. Hazel stands nearby, staring at the barren landscape with wide blue eyes. 

“Stop being nervous, Cai,” Julia comments, then stands up, walking over to Hazel, and standing near her. I nod, squeezing my sweaty hands open and shut. Flint watches me, as he usually does lately. 

“The boat’s here, imperial guards won’t be in the city waiting for us to give us trouble.” Isaiah says, giving me a stern look. “It could be a trap, though,” He says, and I ignore him, walking down to the docks, and climbing on the old boat waiting for us.

Julia and Hazel sit near me, hand-in-hand. Isaiah gives them a disdainful look and moves to the other side of the boat. Julia snickers, seeing this, and talks with Hazel, who smiles brightly. 

There are swarms of people around the palace. Great. I think, sighing. Julia pulls out a gun and fires it into the air. 

“Excuse me, Caden Imperos coming through, thank you!” She yells, and people disperse. The guards at the gates talk to Flint for a bit, since he’s the leader, and eventually we’re checked and we remove our weapons before entering. Julia has quite a few, and she’s not wearing much clothing, so it’s even more confusing. 

“In here,” A guard says, leading me into the throne room where I first presented myself to Governor Connolly, what seems like forever ago. 

On the throne sits a boy maybe a year or two older than me, with dark tan skin, black curls, and yellowish eyes. 

He’s talking to a girl with long blonde hair, who stands by the throne in a fancy blue dress that shines in the light from the chandelier. My jaw drops as I catch a glimpse of white scars on her forearm. 

“Ivvy,” I mumble. 

“Sir, they’re from the other revolution,” The guard who brought us says, and the guy on the throne looks at me. Olive looks over, and smiles. 

“Hi, Flint. Caden. Ember. It’s good to see you guys,” She says, waving, then turning back to the guy. Flint’s face falls, and I just freeze. Olive spins around again. See, there’s my hope. “Wait, Julia, I thought you were on Angel’s side,” Olive says, coming down the steps, and walking over to Julia, completely ignoring me. 

“Double agent,” Julia quickly mumbles, her eyes wide too. Olive nods, then waves at Flint and Ember again. 

“Olive,” I say, and she finally turns to me. 

“Caden,” She says, tilting her head. 

“I… feel like we’re closer than… you ignoring me…” I mumble, biting the inside of my cheek. Olive turns pink. 

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I hit my head at some point, and I’ve got amnesia, apparently. I’m sure if we were good friends, we can work towards that again,” She quickly apologizes, then gives me some awkward thumbs-ups, and walks up the steps again to the guy on the throne, who smiles and kisses the palm of her hand, then her scars. She blushes, and sits on the arm of the chair. “I’m sure with some negotiations we can combine our two unions under a common goal,” She adds. 

“Don’t say anything,” I tell Flint under my breath, and he nods, his brown eyes wide. 

◈◈◈◈