Tessa’s POVI stared at Joseph with an open mouth, shocked that he had just admitted to me that he was in fact a vampire.He seemed so calm and casual about this whole ordeal too. I must have looked like a deer in headlights in comparison.“Do you wish to ask me any questions?” Joseph finally asked, breaking the silence between us.I realized I had been staring at him dumbfounded for a long while, unsure of what to say. But I nodded. I had a million questions surfacing in my mind. I was between the stages of being utterly terrified, and extremely excited.A real vampire.I believed him too.That’s what was most absurd to me.“Tell me about your life as Christopher Moore. That would mean you are actually hundreds of years old, right?” I finally managed to ask, recovering myself.“Something like that,” he answered. he answered plainly and simply. “Chris was actually my main identity. I was born Christopher Moore.”“His identity has always been such a mystery…” I breathed. “Just like Jos
Joseph’s POVTalking to Tessa had become somewhat natural. It was a strange feeling and everything in my body was telling me to continue this conversation.She stared at me with wide eyes and for a moment, I wondered if I had said too much.“What do you mean by that?” She finally asked after what felt like a lifetime of silence. “You are attracted to my blood? Like a mosquito?”Her comparison took me by surprise, and I almost burst out laughing.“No,” I said, trying to hide the amused smile that surfaced on my lips. “I don’t go around biting humans and leaving annoying and itchy little bumps on them.”“Then what do you mean?” She asked a little more firmly and clearly annoyed by my teasing.“I mean I’m attracted to it. It’s akin to human love when they are alive. As long as the same blood flows through you, I would harbor feelings for you akin to love.”She looked alarmed by my explanation. I had definitely said too much that time. It was as if she had never heard those words before.
Tessa’s POVEvery ounce of my mind was telling me to run for the hills. I kept telling myself, “Tessa, are you insane? How could you stick around knowing what you know?!”But my body wasn’t listening to my mind. I sat in the living room of Joseph’s house, staring up at this incredible man, with a racing heart, knowing that he was a vampire. I should have been afraid for my life. I should be running away and screaming. I shouldn’t ever look back.But I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to learn more. I wanted to experience more.I’ve only ever written about vampires. But finding out true facts about real vampires could greatly benefit my writing.But with all the information he had given me, my mind felt like it was going to explode. I needed to leave and wrap my head around everything.He seemed to understand.Just as I grabbed my purse off the table, I accidentally knocked it over. I sighed, reaching to grab my phone that had fallen from my purse, and frowned when I saw Ruby’s name appe
Tessa’s POV“She has the very same bite marks on her body as all the other victims around the city recently,” I pointed out. “Which means they really were vampire attacks. This whole time…”I peered up at him as he nodded his head once.“Yes,” he answered. “That’s why I’m here. To put a stop to that. The problem finding them and capturing them.”Knowing there are vampires running around the city sent a shiver down my spine.This death was too close to home. This was somebody that I knew and liked. This was my classmate. Just earlier this afternoon I lent her my cardigan that she was still wearing and is currently inside of the body bag with her.This could have been any of us.It could have been me.I wrapped my arms around my body, hugging myself tightly. I felt cold and ill at the very thought that vampires were lurking around, draining humans of their blood, and killing them.Joseph was a vampire, but he had said that he was highly trained. These vampires were considered new, and t
Joseph’s POVThe same familiar officer that typically stands guard near the entrance of the building and takes his job way too seriously was getting on my last nerve. I already couldn’t stand this man, now it seems he’s about to pose a threat to Tessa.His hand was still wrapped around his gun, long after I explained that Tessa wasn’t an issue, and that she was going to remain by my side during our time here.He was very persistent in getting her out of there, despite me telling him that wasn’t going to happen.I could feel Tessa’s fear boiling inside of her as she hid behind me. She also noticed the gun and she worried that he might use it on her. I wouldn’t put it past him to do something stupid like that.Jordan was a fairly new Nightwalker officer and he played everything by the book. This wasn’t a bad thing exactly, but in this situation, it was very annoying.“Step back, Officer Jordan,” I warned for the hundredth time.He was still glaring at Tessa like he was worried she would
Tessa’s POVIs this why Joseph didn’t want to come with me to this examination? Because he knew this was going to happen?I felt humiliated that he didn’t give me even the slightest warning.I was even more humiliated because this woman I had never met before, Lisa, was staring at me and waiting for me to get completely undressed.“It won’t take long,” she assured me, a frown on her face. “I’m assuming they didn’t explain what this examination is.”“Not at all.”She sighed and shook her head.“I shouldn’t be surprised.”She went towards the counter and pulled out what looked like a flashlight.“This is a black light. When I turn off the lights and point this at you, it’ll show me all areas in which you could be infected.”“Infected?”“They really explained nothing,” she said, furrowing her brows together.“Vampires release a venom in their fangs when they bite a human and this venom will possibly turn you into a vampire if you are killed with it in your system. There are usually trace
Tessa’s POVThe realization was in Joseph’s eyes as he continued to stare at me. Chief Mulligan was also staring at me, but his look was more out of curiosity than anything.I stared between them both, very confused.“Why are you looking at me?” I asked, a little worried clear in my tone.“Because there’s something about you that’s special…” Joseph said, almost thoughtfully. My entire face warmed as he continued to stare at me. “I mean your blood…” he adds. “It’s addictive. It’s almost potent. So, when others are around you, they obtain your scent for a short while.”“My scent?” I asked with a frown. “Like the scent of my blood?”“Vampires have a very keen sense of smell,” Joseph nodded. “So, we can pick up the scent of a human easily.”“So, what does any of this mean? What do vampire attacks have to do with me?” I asked, raising my brows.“The victims…” Mulligan began slowly, meeting my eyes. “Have they been around you?”I thought about it for a moment before nodding my head.“The vi
Tessa’s POVI knew my entire face was incredibly red. He had this amused look in his eyes, despite his face being expressionless and I’m not sure how he managed to do that.The last thing I wanted was for Chief Mulligan to know about my one-night stand with Joseph, but here he was… putting it on display.Mulligan looked between the two of us with raised brows, saying nothing as awkwardness sat in the middle of the room. None of us spoke for a short while.I looked down at my feet, hoping that the heat would soon leave my face and it would return to its normal color.“I’m just saying—”“Shut up,” I said quickly, raising my gaze to meet his eyes.He looked at me for a moment longer before shrugging and turning back to Mulligan who stood before us awkwardly trying to avoid all eye contact.“Are you two done?” He muttered. “We need to find out if our theories are true. We have to figure out if it’s actually Tessa’s blood and scent that is drawing in these new vampires and killing those wh
Tessa’s POV10 years later!“You got called here too?” Ruby asked as I walked up the steps of the middle school. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair, letting it fall around my shoulders.“Are you really surprised?” I asked her, rolling my eyes.She wrapped an arm around my shoulders and held me close to her.“Just take a deep breath. Maybe it’s not too bad this time,” she said, trying to appear soothing.I gave her a pointed look.“Please, when is it ever not that bad?”“Well, they aren’t vampires yet. So, it could be worse,” she said, shrugging her shoulders and chuckling.“I can only imagine the trouble they will get into once they are vampires,” I muttered.Ruby only laughed harder as we walked into the school. We went down the hallway and towards the principal's office, but a familiar voi
Tessa’s POV“Breathe, Tessa. Just breathe!” Ruby said as she held onto my hand tightly.I’m glad she’s a vampire and strong because if she was a typical human, I would have broken her hand by now. Pain shot through my lower abdomen and into my spine, crippling me in agony. I screamed out in pain, my entire body quivering.“You are doing great,” the doctor said, looking at my vitals. “That was a big contraction. It won’t be much longer until it’s time for you to push.”“Where the hell is Joseph?” I asked through my teeth.I knew he was working when I went into labor but that was several hours ago. I thought he would be here by now.“He texted Carter a bit ago and said he was almost here,” Ruby assured me. She placed a cool cloth on my forehead, and I sighed in relief. The pain in my body started to simmer down for a moment, but I knew th
Tessa’s POVA month after the big battle 4 years ago, Amelia called me and told me that they had taken Ruby to the most elite healers in California where Amelia is originally from. Carter hadn’t left her side since they took her there. They were able to get her heart beating once again, but she remained in critical condition for a little over a year.Nobody, including me, was allowed to see her. The only ones allowed near her were Carter, her true love, and Amelia, her mother. However, Amelia tried to keep me updated as frequently as possible but for a long while, it didn’t seem like Ruby would ever wake up.But 18 months later, she finally woke. It was a long road to recovery though. Even though she was healing and awake, both Carter and Amelia thought it would be best if she remained in California and stayed isolated until she was 100 percent ready to return. Apparently, she suffered some serious PTSD, along with minor memory
Tessa’s POV4 years later. “This had got to be the longest engagement in the history of engagements,” Hannah said as she continued to fuss over my hair for the last several hours. “I’m so happy it’s finally coming to an end.”I smiled at her through the vanity mirror, feeling a lightness in my chest that I hadn’t felt in a long time. Not since my daughter, Amaya, was born.“I know,” I told her honestly, biting my lower lip, making Amy huff with dismay as she grabbed more lipstick to fix my makeup that I unknowingly ruined. “With everything that went down 4 years ago, marrying Joseph just didn’t seem right. I really wanted to get my life back in order. I wanted to succeed in my career, Joseph needed to adjust to his new role as Overseer, and plus, I didn’t want to get married pregnant.”This made both girls pause what they were doing and lo
Tessa’s POVMost of the coven stayed with me in my father’s home. Esme went out to help the police look for Penny.There was no way I was going to leave my father alone if Penny was still out there and planning on killing him. My father and I talked a lot about everything that had happened, and he apologized countless times even though I told him it wasn’t necessary.None of this was his fault and I hated that he was blaming himself.He set up sleeping bags, and air mattresses and pulled out the couch for everyone to sleep on. He has one guest bedroom that Laura and Austin occupied. Joseph and I were going to sleep in my childhood room, but I really didn’t want to leave my father and plus, I had missed him throughout these years.Even though he was in my life these past few years, with Penny around, we didn’t really have a great relationship. Now I understood why; because Penny had her claws dug deep i
Tessa’s POVThe Moon Goddess had completely taken over my body and spoke to everyone through me. She warned them what would happen if anything were to happen to me or my baby. Now it was up to them to decide if they wanted to continue hunting me to gain the powers of the Heavenly Heart, or if they were going to trust the Moon Goddess with her decision.Seeing the horror on everybody’s faces, I knew the choice they would make. It was the obvious choice; I had seen what they had seen, and they would be stupid to chance it. Their lives and the state of this earth were in their hands.Silence consumed us as everyone processed what they had just seen. Only the yelling of Carter brought me back to the present moment. I turned to look at him and I could see the straight-up horror on his face as he screamed for Ruby.I turned to see Ruby lying on the ground, her body completely still and it was clear she wasn’t breathing. But mo
Tessa’s POVEsme, Patty, Cole, Claira, and Bennet worked on putting a shield around the circle while the rest of us gathered around while Ruby stood in the center. Everybody looked equally nervous except Ruby who looked confident.I could hear the battle ongoing around us and my heart was breaking for the lives that have been lost. I glanced at my father’s house, hoping and praying that he was still inside and that he was safe.I glanced over my shoulder and through the fighting I saw Joseph kneeling on the ground beside Benard who had blood pouring out of his neck. My heart shattered in an instant. My entire concentration and faith had been broken as I felt sick from the sight before me.Bernard… no… He couldn’t be… My thoughts went back to Anna’s vision a while back about Bernard dying during a battle.Was this the battle he was meant to die in?
Tessa’s POV“We’ve enchanted the house!” Esme said as she rushed towards me. “Nobody besides your blood can get in. Including any of us.”“What about Joseph?” I asked, shouting through the chaos. “We weren’t able to exclude him either,” Esme told me. She grabbed onto my arms and gave them a gentle squeeze. “You need to go inside and protect yourself. They are here because they want your heart.”I looked around at the ongoing fight. My stomach twisted. People were dying and I couldn’t help but feel responsible. I needed to fix this, not hide like a coward.“We need to find Ruby,” I told her firmly.“We are on the lookout for her, but so far we haven’t been able to see her or Eevee,” Esme said, looking around with a frown on her face.“Have you checked everywhere?”“We c
Third Person POV (Ruby)At some point, Ruby had fallen asleep. Though, she knew right away that it wasn’t a normal sleep. It was a vision.This one felt a different thought. She was surrounded by my dark smoke, though it didn’t feel like smoke, it only looked like it. She couldn’t exactly see what was happening, but she could hear the sounds of death and destruction around her. Innocent people screaming and crying for mercy. The sounds of supernatural’s fighting and killing one another.There was so much darkness and despair, that Ruby felt a sense of dread weighing on her chest. Her breathing hitched when some of the smoke cleared, and she saw blood soaking the grass around her feet. Puddles of blood were everywhere. The sky was hazy and unrecognizable.Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at all the bodies that occupied the earth. This was too much for her to handle; why did she have to be cursed with seeing