Tessa’s POVI wore a black knee-high skirt and a pink blouse; my hair was tied back in a low ponytail, and I put a little bit of makeup on to highlight my features. My clothes fit my body perfectly, showing off my every curve and a little bit of my legs. I wore black heels that made me an inch taller. I had to say; I looked pretty good for my first day at work.Joseph whistled his approval when I walked out of the bedroom to model my first day of work outfit for him.“You look amazing, Tessa,” he breathed as he took me in.I smiled and twirled for him to fully see the outfit.“I hope it’s appropriate for my first day,” I said, unable to hide the nervousness from my voice.He wrapped me in his arms and peppered light kisses along my jaw.“It’s perfect,” he said, approvingly.I swatted him away, but I chuckled.“You are going to ruin my makeup,” I scolded; there was no malice in my tone and he smiled in response.“Are you sure you don’t want me to take you to work? I have some time befo
Joseph’s POVIt was strange returning to the academy after a year of being away. But once I got back, it was like nothing had changed. I was greeted by some of the elders who ran the school, and they were pleased with my return.“Your office is exactly how you left it,” one of the Elders that I had worked closely with, Robert, had said as I walked through the school with him by my side.I nodded in response.“Should I assume that I’ll be resuming my usual course?” I asked once we neared my office located at the back of the school.“Yes; there’s a new string of students that will be taking your course,” Robert informed me. “It might be the worst of them. We had them in isolation for a long time because they proved to be dangerous toward other students.” I paused to look at him.“Dangerous how?”“There were some issues with assault and other forms of violence,” he explained. “They wanted to get their hands on blood, and they didn’t care if it was human or vampire. They just wanted it.
Tessa’s POVI stared at the portfolio with my mouth hanging open. They wanted me to investigate, interview, and write about Joseph? I couldn’t just turn down this assignment because it would make me look bad and I certainly wasn’t going to get fired on my first day.I couldn’t just come right out and tell them that I was actually engaged to Joseph Evergreen. I wasn’t prepared to answer all the questions they’d asked me. There wasn’t much for me to do other than to agree to work on this assignment.The portfolio contained some of Joseph’s work and some of the stuff that Megan already knew about him, which wasn’t much. I already knew that Joseph was a very private person and he worked hard to keep his identity private over the years. I understood why though; if humans got too close to knowing Joseph, they would eventually find out his secret and I couldn’t let that happen.They also wanted a picture of him.My heart was racing in my chest as I went through the portfolio.I had no idea w
Third Person POVFrom the moment Ruby set foot on this campus, she felt out of place. She felt as if others were watching her and waiting for her to snap at any moment. Like it was normal for new vampires to lose their minds, and maybe it was. But ever since she first woke and nearly killed Tessa, then had her first sip of blood, she hasn’t felt compelled to lose herself to the bloodlust again.She had to admit, she was incredibly nervous when Joseph dropped her off at this strange place. She didn’t want to part ways with those who had become her friends. She certainly didn’t want to part ways with Carter. Leaving his side was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do, and she didn’t even fully understand that feeling.She could still feel the ghost of his arms wrapped around her, making her feel safe and loved. She was so in love with him and that terrified her. He had hurt her once before and nothing was stopping him from doing it again, but somewhere deep in her heart she still truste
Joseph’s POVAfter I hung up with Tessa, I went straight to the dormitory in Ruby’s section of the school and as soon as I got to her wing, Erika greeted me with tears in her eyes. She had her arms wrapped around her body like she was struggling to keep herself together and I could tell she’s been crying heavily and probably for a while.“What’s going on?” I asked as soon as I stepped into the room.Erika sniffled and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. I had known Erika for a long time; she had worked at this school as dorm advisor and mentor for many decades and students looked up to her as a parental figure.She was wise beyond her years, even though looked as if she was in her early 40s. In reality, she was actually a few centuries old.“She tried to warn me…” Erika whimpered. “And I didn’t listen to her.”“What are you talking about?” I asked.“Ruby. She had a dream before it happened. I told her it was just her anxiety and that nothing bad was going to happen. She told me
Tessa’s POVI really didn’t want Morgana to help me with this assignment for obvious reasons, but she seemed adamant about it. It’s not like I could fake the assignment to appease her; I was going to have to eventually ask for Joseph’s help in pulling this off. But I couldn’t do that with Morgana hanging around me constantly.She told me she knew where Joseph lived, and I wasn’t sure if that was the truth or not. We had just moved here a few days ago; how could she possibly know the location of the house already? It wasn’t even directly in the city; it was right outside the city.But she was overly excited about this revelation. After she dropped that bomb on me, she quickly hurried out of my office. I wasn’t really sure where she was going, but I was relieved after a few minutes alone. I just needed to think about my next steps and what to do.I stared at the portfolio as if I expected to find the answers written somewhere, but I didn’t. It was just basic information about Joseph; li
Tessa’s POVEsmeralda got out of the car and started to walk toward me. I, discreetly as possible, shook my head and waved my hands behind Morgana’s back, trying to get Esme to stop walking toward me as she knew me.She frowned when she saw my gestures and then she looked at Morgana with a questioning look.“Hi there,” Esme said to her and then her eyes flickered to me. “Everything okay?”Morgana stared at her as if she had just killed her firstborn baby; she folded her arms across her chest and glared at her.“And who wants to know?” Morgana nearly spats. She was reminding me a lot about Ashley, and I shuddered; I guess they weren’t so different after all.Esme stared at her for a moment before looking at me, clearly confused.“I’m a friend,” Esme said, but there was uncertainty in her voice as she said those words. I felt awful because I knew how confused she was, but I couldn’t exactly explain to her in front of Morgana that I didn’t want her to know I was living in this house with
Tessa’s POVI let out a scream of terror without really meaning to. My whole body was paralyzed as Lucias drove at a speed that shouldn’t have been possible in the city. He hit a few things along the way, and I feared some of those things were people. He didn’t seem to care about anyone’s life, not even mine.As the car cut a corner, I jerked and hit my head hard against the window. I felt the blood before I saw it. It was all over the window and panic started to consume me. The more the car jerked around and grew faster, the more my wrists dug into the cuffs. I knew they were going to be bruised and scratched as well.The car seemed to be getting faster and then it felt like it was airborne. I let out a yelp of panic as the car thudded back to the ground, letting out a terrifying crashing sound. I heard the cracking of my wrist before felt the searing pain.I cried out for him to slow down, but it was he wasn’t listening to a word I was saying. I wasn’t sure how this was even possibl
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