When vengeance strikes in the form of a bullet out for the princess's blood, Princess Aleia VonAuclair must flee the heart of her country in order to protect the people she loves and take back the pieces of her soul she'd lost to the girl she once l...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Who are we? We are Panthers! What do we do? We hunt for victory! Go Panthers, go!"
The excitement of the Panthers first victory crackled through the night air even after the players had retreated back down each of their respective tunnels. The tunnels and exits were swarmed by students as they slowly trickled out, shoulder to shoulder until they resembled one big lump of blues and whites. Cara and Lily had gone to meet up with the guys in preparation of the after party, which left me behind on the benches.
I'd declined their offer to join, saying all I wanted to do was snuggle up with a fluffy blanket and watch the next episode of my rerun on Modern Family. I just wanted a cozy night in.
Since Bryan couldn't risk losing sight of me in the massive sea of people, I'd been told to stay behind until the very last of the crowd dissipated. So here I was, still in the seat I'd occupied for the past two and a half hours, scrolling through social media with the buffer account my public relations advisor approved of.
I absentmindedly scrolled past a bunch of random videos and photos, legs crossed and posture lazy before I stumbled across something that made me shoot straight up in my seat.
Asrea's Princess Aleia seen strolling around Lumpur's Botanical Gardens last Saturday!
The video showcased an elegant woman draped in a royal silk dress and bedecked in simple but ornate jewellery over her neck and wrists. A thin veil obscured her face from view but her height, frame and graceful lithe was a near identical match to mine. It was only then I realized I had a body double back home. Why did no one tell me?
My watched dinged. All clear.
Tucking my phone into my purse, I sauntered past the now open barrier into the tunnels where the nearest exit led to the parking lot. I'd just past the door to the locker room when it swung open and a burst of noise erupted into the hallway as the players sauntered out freshly showered with their gym bags slung over their shoulders.
"Aleia."
I paused and glanced over my shoulder. The hockey team took up the entire hallway, chatting amongst themselves as they began to walk towards the exit, but when my gaze finally landed on the person who called me, I let out a small squeak.
Iron-willed determination set Nate's face into stone, his grey eyes a cloudy storm. The cursed point of his finger sent a curdle of dread slithering through my blood and I broke out into a full-fledged sprint to the exit.
"Oh no, you don't," he shouted.
I yelped and pushed faster, my muscles pumping at an alarming rate with my best effort to outrun a trained athlete. A multitude of chuckles rumbled through the air, their voices mingling with the closing in thumps of Nate's thunderous footsteps.
A shriek tore through my throat when his fingers brushed my arm and I abruptly halted to elbow Nate in the gut a second before I tore the double doors open and hightailed it for the stairs. He let out a grunt but instantly picked up his pace again.
