tricks of time ― grayson hawthorne [the inheritance games]

026. SOLO NIGHT SWIMS

𝙷𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝙼𝚜. 𝙰𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚏𝚞𝚕, 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎. 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚆𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚗 𝙰𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚛, 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚞𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚋 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚛, 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝙼𝚜. 𝙰𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚛. 𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍, 𝚌𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝚄𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚊𝚐𝚘 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎.

𝙾𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚍𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝙼𝚛. 𝙻𝚒𝚊𝚖 𝙲𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝙵𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝙼𝚛. 𝙹𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝙲𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝙷𝚊𝚠𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚗- 𝙼𝚛. 𝙰𝚕𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝙷𝚊𝚠𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎. 𝙷𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝙼𝚛. 𝙷𝚊𝚠𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚓𝚊𝚠. 𝙰𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝙼𝚛. 𝙲𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚊𝚗.

𝙱𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙰𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚛 𝚅. 𝙲𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚌 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚜𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚗. 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚙 𝚘𝚏 𝟽,𝟶𝟶𝟶 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎, 𝟼𝟺% 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝙻𝚎𝚊𝚑 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚟𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝟹𝟼% 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝙹𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍.

"𝙸"𝚖 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝙻𝚎𝚊𝚑. 𝙰𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘'𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚢𝚙𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜, 𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛," 𝚊 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜.

𝙷𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚖, 𝚊 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜, "𝙹𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢. 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝙷𝚊𝚠𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎 𝙷𝚎𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎. 𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢."