Iris closed her eyes.
For a few seconds, all she could hear was the rustling of leaves above her and the distant sounds coming from Velaris. Then, little by little, the present seemed to loosen its grip on her.
She was back in her old life, back when the apocalypse was nothing more than something she read about on her phone late at night. Back when Queen Rose Rules the Apocalypse was simply a novel she had gotten far too invested in.
She could still remember lying on her bed with her phone in one hand, telling herself that she would read one more chapter before sleeping.
That had never worked.
The novel had started with Rose.
Iris remembered liking her at first. Rose was beautiful, confident, and the kind of girl who could walk into a room without trying to become the center of attention and somehow end up there anyway. People liked her. Teachers remembered her. Students wanted to be around her.
