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 POVIt was an average-looking woman that looked almost human. Except her eyes were very dark and her skin was so pale it looked like it’s never been touched by the sun before in her life. She wore casual clothing, but she was completely barefoot.She was also very thin, and I knew she didn’t eat proper meals.I definitely had never seen her around before, but I certainly wouldn’t be able to tell if she was a vampire or not.Was she what a typical new vampire looked like?I wanted to ask, but Joseph and Mulligan were so engrossed in the video, I don’t think they would pay attention to my question.Not before long, she was joined by a male who appeared to look just as average. He was also pale, and he was built with huge muscles. He didn’t wear a shirt which revealed the collection of tattoos he had on his body.I found myself holding my breath, even though I was nowhere near them.They were both smelling the air like they smelled the most delicious thing in the world and a chil
Tessa’s POV“You want me to live with you?!” I asked, staring up at Joseph with dismay. “We can’t live together. You are my professor.”“It is the best option,” Joseph said, looking between everyone before his eyes landed on me. “That way I can ensure you are safe and not putting anyone else in danger. If you continue to live with a Ruby, there’s a good chance they will break in again. You need to be protected, and also keep her protected.”“But the perfume can help keep my scent away. So, maybe they won’t know that I’m still there…”“The perfume masks the top layer of your scent. The longer you stay there, the more your scent will begin to linger and attract them.”I looked over at everyone else who only shrugged. They agreed with him. Obviously, they didn’t see how this could pose a problem.“Obviously nobody at school can find out about this so we will have to keep this on the down low,” Joseph continued. “I have plenty of rooms in my Villa, so you can take your pick at whichever o
Tessa’s POVJoseph, being the gentleman that he apparently is, carried my belongings from his car and into his villa. He paused once we got inside and turned to me.“Go pick out your room,” he said, looking down at me. “Obviously, you can’t have mine. But any other room is up for grabs.”I wondered how many bedrooms were in this Villa. It was a huge building, but only two stories. During our one-night stand, we started off in the downstairs bathroom next to his study, but gradually made our way upstairs and into his bedroom.I remembered his bedroom was down a long hall and the door was redwood with golden decals. I didn’t ask him what the decals meant at that time because all I cared about was getting inside, but as I stopped in the hallway and looked at his bedroom door, I couldn’t help but inquire about them.“It’s the symbol of the vampire empress,” he explained. “She died many years ago. Not something you should concern yourself with.”I didn’t ask further questions about this em
Joseph’s POVI didn’t like being awake during the daytime, so I was already tired when I arrived at school early this morning. I dressed in a long coat and put dark shades over my eyes in an attempt to shield myself from the sunlight.It didn’t work though. As soon as I was outside, I could already feel the effects of the sun.Tessa had gone to school by herself.I probably should have told her I was going to be giving her rides to school for her own safety. However, hiding from the sun, I found it difficult.This probably wasn’t the best idea.Tessa stared at me with large eyes as I began to tell her that I was going to give her a ride to school, but we were soon interrupted by the sound of angry parents coming from down the hallway.I quickly turned to see a small crowd marching toward us.I recognized one of the parents to be Morgan’s mother. She had bloodshot eyes from when she was crying. I can’t imagine she had stopped crying since finding out her daughter was killed.She also l
Tessa’s POVI hadn’t seen Joseph for the rest of the morning. It’s to be assumed he was probably getting yelled at in the principal's office. A knot had formed in the pit of my stomach thinking about Joseph.I hoped he wasn’t in too much trouble. I hoped that some of our words had gotten through to them, and they didn’t fire him.But what if he did get fired?I didn’t even want to bear the thought of that. I would have to attend that normal writing class and that was not something I wanted to do.I found it difficult to concentrate in class, but I wasn’t the only one. Most students, and even the faculty, were drones of themselves.Morgan was liked by most of her peers and teachers, so the pure thought of her no longer being here didn’t sit right with any of us. All our hearts were heavy, and we didn’t want to do any schoolwork because of it.Thankfully, the teachers understood this and went easy on us for the most part. I even got an email from Joseph earlier this morning canceling th
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