ArcKnight (The ArcKnight Chronicles #1) Page 2

  Lilliana

  I smeared the mascara down my cheeks, leaving behind angry stripes where my fingers dug into the dampened skin. No matter how much I wanted to claw my dang eyes out, scream and slam my fists into the moldy walls of the alleyway buildings, I hated to admit that I’d been incredibly wrong about everything up until now.

  So. Very. Wrong.

  It wasn’t hard to understand the how or why of it all. It was the who, the what, and the when of the situation that killed me. My stupidity had taken a dive into an all-time low, and I felt like I was drowning in a puddle of putrid, bottomless muck. There was no air in shit this deep.

  And it was all my fault. All. My. Fault. How could I have been so naïve?

  “Dammit!” I screamed out into the rain. It was pouring and blinded me when I attempted to peer up into the disappearing sky. I couldn’t see much above the buildings, the rain shot down like spears dropping from the sky. It pelted my head and forced me to look down to shield my already reddened eyes.

  At least the rain absorbed my tears as it washed away my makeup. It was befitting, really.

  You see, I’d failed tonight. In more ways than one. I was so screwed. If there was a remedy for the problems I’d caused this evening, I was all ears. No one could help me now, and I was on my own. There would be no pack for this wolf girl. I was a loner now. Kicked out of my pack for my stupidity, defiance and utter belief that I was invincible… untouchable.

  How wrong I’d been. So trusting and vulnerable.

  I was as good as dead out here.

  Chapter One