Joseph’s POVAfter I left Tessa’s workplace, I got into my car and drove an hour to the vampire academy. I wanted to speak with Ruby and tell her everything that’s been going on since I last saw her. Because of the phone limitations at the academy, she’s been left in the dark. I don’t even think she knows we got to Tessa in time and that she’s okay.I felt guilty for not trying harder to reach out to her sooner, but I’m sure she will understand. I couldn’t get over how those women at Tessa’s office were all over me like that. I was going to need to shower for days to get the fe
Third Person POVRuby stared at Joseph with her mouth hanging open. He couldn’t be serious right now. She wasn’t special; sure, she had the ability to see the future, and her visions seemed to be pretty accurate, but she was a prophet of the Moon Goddess. She never thought someone as powerful and important as the Goddess herself would even notice someone as small as Ruby. She was only a human a few months ago, and now she’s not. Things were moving way too fast, and she really needed the guidance of her best friend in the entire world.Ruby hadn’t even mentioned to Joseph that this wasn’t the first tim
Tessa’s POV“Ruby!” I cried as I pressed the phone to my cheek. I can’t remember the last time I spoke to Ruby; it had to have been months ago. Usually, she spends her phone calls on Carter. I never really took it personally because their relationship was just beginning when she got changed into a vampire and then shipped away to the academy. It didn’t have any time to blossom.“It’s so good to hear your voice,” she sniffled. “I was so scared for days I couldn’t think straight. I was so relieved when Joseph told me that you were safe.”
Tessa’s POVBy the time I got home this evening, I was utterly exhausted. I didn’t want to think about anything besides slipping into my bed and falling fast asleep. But of course, that would have been too easy. As soon as I walked in the door, I heard arguing.“He was still our coven leader, Amy, we should hold some kind of service for him,” Hannah said; she was red in the face, and I could tell they’d been arguing for a while.Derek and Laura were sitting on the couch; Laura looked pale in the face and Derek had his h
Tessa’s POVJust like that, my entire heart shattered in my chest, and I felt sick to my stomach. I thought I was going to vomit on the ground in front of everybody. They all grew silent; Derek stared at the girls with his mouth hanging open in shock while Bennet and Cole were staring in shocked silence.“Austin didn’t come out and say that he remembered any of this,” Laura continued, breaking the silence. “But after we ate and slept for most of the day yesterday, when we woke up, most of our memories came back in snippets throughout the day and that was the first one that came back
Joseph’s POVI ran my fingers through my hair and took a deep breath. I wasn’t sure what I was going to say to the kid. I had never really spoken to any of them one-on-one before. I know these witches and wizards don’t trust me because I’m a vampire, but they are trying their best because I’m with Tessa and because her mother had once trusted me. I don’t blame them for not trusting me though; vampires had put them through hell over the years. Not all of us are good and I’ll be the first to admit that.I knew very little about Austin; only what the others had told me. He just turned 20 pret
Tessa’s POVWhen I walked into Hanna’s room, she was curled up on her bed with tears spilling out of her eyes. My heart broke for her; she was a young girl, around 22 years old and she wore her heart on her sleeve. I’ve heard this about her the last couple of times we’ve talked, but I really don’t know anything else about her. I was going to make it my mission to know everything I could about her and the others though.As strange as it was, I can’t imagine walking away from them. I wanted to be a part of this coven. Hannah was a pretty blonde with dazzling blue eyes and light freckles feathered
Tessa’s POVI stared at Joseph in disbelief. I lifted my head and met his eyes.“Are you serious?” I asked him, my voice coming out breathy. “You’d want them to stay here?”“I can see how close you are to them,” he told me, his eyes filled with earnest. “And they seem to like it here. There’s plenty of room and that way you can keep an eye on them and help them.”“And they can help me,” I to
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