Tessa’s POVMy mouth fell open.How did he know me? With a racing heart, I found myself stepping closer to Joseph, trying to keep my body from shivering out of control. Joseph was still tense as he stared up at this man; I had so many questions, but I was too stunned to speak.“Elder Baine, it’s good to see you again,” Joseph said, ignoring his question.
Tessa’s POVI wasn’t sure how this woman knew who, or what, I was. But I knew I needed to find out. I was intrigued by the woman who silenced Elder Baine. Her aged eyes showed compassion as she looked at Joseph and then back at me.“Come inside so we can talk,” the woman said, turning on her very expensive-looking heels, and walking inside.Baine growled deep in his throat, making me freeze. Joseph took my arm, and I looked up at him to see him giving me a gentle and warm smile, which melted my entire heart. I returned the sm
Joseph’s POVI couldn’t get Tessa out of there fast enough. Once we went with Baine and Amayah to the council room and stopped the meeting from continuing, we grabbed Carter and left as fast as we could before they changed their minds about letting Carter go punishment-free.Carter was extremely confused by the turn of events because apparently, they were really laying it into him that he shouldn’t have gone behind their backs and turned a human into a vampire. He was taking full responsibility and he overheard some of them saying something about the death penalty. He was terrified he was never going to see Ruby
Tessa’s POVI was alone when I woke up. I blinked a few times to try to get a grasp of my surroundings. Last night was a bit of a blur and I think it was because I was so mentally and physically exhausted. But once I looked around and saw that I was in Joseph’s bedroom, my cheeks flushed as memories surfaced in my mind.I made love to Joseph last night and it was incredible. I wanted to squeal like a schoolgirl. I loved that man so much that I thought my heart was going to explode. The council was okay with our upcoming marriage, and I was able to pledge myself to them without any issues. Not to mention Carter was now
Tessa’s POVThe drive back to the city was long and exhausting. It felt weird returning without Ruby, and it felt even weirder knowing that the vampire council knew exactly where I was. Joseph had told me that I could trust them, but I wasn’t so sure. It was hard to believe that a group of elite vampires could be trusted after everything I had been through.If they could really be trusted, wouldn’t they have stopped Ryan from doing what he had done? I’m assuming they knew exactly where all their vampires were and what they were up to. So, where has this council been this whole time?
Tessa’s POV“Are you almost packed?” Joseph asked as he looked around my bedroom.We had gotten back into the city a few hours ago and we rested at his house until we went to my apartment. I wasn’t sure how long we would be gone for, but I knew we had to return at some point. We were only going to look at houses; we hadn’t actually bought anything yet.“Yes,” I answered, zipping my suitcase and pulling it off my bed.Joseph qu
Tessa’s POVMary Flanagan. The real estate agent Joseph had hired to show us around different houses in the city of New York. She was a middle-aged woman with kind blue eyes with small wrinkles around the edges when she smiled. Her blonde hair was tied up in a neatly done ponytail and she wore a pink blouse and a tight black skirt that made her look professional.The sun had just set when we met her at the small café just outside of the busy city. She already had her cappuccino in hand and was seated at an outdoor table, flipp
Tessa’s POVWe just bought a house!Well, technically Joseph bought the house, but still. We are going to be officially living together. Our move-in date is in a couple of days. Joseph finished signing the paperwork first thing in the morning and Mary brought us a couple of sets of keys. Now all we had to do was pack up our lives back home and move into the big city.My excitement was boiling over, but it was also bittersweet because I didn’t have my best friend here to celebrate it with me. This was supposed to be our dream; more than a
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