(Salvatore's POV)As soon as dusk becomes darkness, the city comes alive with a pulse of its own. The busy streets of London are buzzing with excitement. My senses come to life as I pick up on the supernatural world that coexists in secret alongside the humans. Despite the noise, I can hear everything around me. Each heartbeat is a symphony playing just for me. It's my siren’s song calling to the monster within, beckoning it to let loose and feed. I stay hidden in the shadows and observe the scene around me. There are so many people out tonight. I can smell their desperation. Their only desire is to escape their mundane lives for one night. The darkness is a cloak, hiding me from the prying eyes of the more curious humans. The beast inside me is hungry. No matter how hard I try to ignore him, I know I can’t suppress his desires for much longer. My nostrils flare as an intoxicating scent catches my attention. The smell just makes the beast more excited. I give in to the primal urge
(Quinn's POV) I freeze as the door slams shut. I'm about to count down, as I wait for my friends to pounce, when something cold wraps around my ankles and yanks me out of bed. My eyes snap open to find Emmerson looming over me, her face twisted in anger. “Not again, Quinn!” she exclaims, scowling. I roll over and close my eyes, willing sleep to take me so that I can ignore her. I am not in the mood for her being a bitch right now. Sometimes I don’t think that she can comprehend what I am going through. All I want is for my friends to accept me for who I am. Having your life mapped out for you and being engaged to someone before you can even walk is far from ideal. The last two-and-a-half years have gone a lot faster than I hoped. Being here has given me something I have been missing all these years. My life. Now I've had a taste of freedom. I don’t want to go home. Unfortunately, the time for me to be free is running out. “Did you at least get his name this time?” Piper laughs,
(Quinn's POV) I frantically pull my phone out of my pocket and start scrolling the internet for information about the eclipse. There is nothing popping up in the search, and social media is unusually silent. It’s totally bizarre. Amongst the eerie silence, I come across a website about the moon's cycles that has a list of dates for the next eclipse around the world. As I scroll down the page, I discover that an eclipse isn’t supposed to happen in the United Kingdom for another seventy years. How can this be possible? The students have formed two groups. One is standing staring at the eclipse in awe. The others are running around like crazy people, ranting about how this is a sign of the end of days. I’m not sure which category me and my friends fit into because we know that something is seriously wrong, but we can’t stop staring. Whatever is happening is beyond st
(Quinn's POV) "Well, that was something," Finn's boisterous voice snaps me out of my trance. I watch as he grabs the last slice of pizza, his toned viking frame barely contained in a tight t-shirt. His ginger hair, wild and unkempt, hangs around his face. All of a sudden, the phone rings and my heart freezes. There's no need to guess who it is. No one else knows this number, and nobody our age uses a landline. Our parent's won't be happy when they find out how bad it is here. In their minds it will be a million times worse than it actually is. Dread settles deep in the pit of my stomach, as Landon picks up the receiver and presses a button that puts the call on loudspeaker. We huddle together on the sofa so we can all hear the conversation. “Is everyone okay?” Magnus asks, his v
(Salvatore's POV)The perpetual twilight continues to cast an eerie glow over the city. Over the last three days, it has smothered the city with its dark abyss. Its otherworldly light creates an uneasy atmosphere that clings to everything it touches. I’m no stranger to darkness, but this is different. It feels unnatural, and that’s unsettling. I should be glad of the freedom that it has brought to my life, but I can’t help but be wary of its presence. With every step I take, my boots echo ominously through the empty streets. Anxiety coils within me like a snake around its prey, tightening its grip as I approach the usual meeting place of my brothers.The dimly lit warehouse is the only light on the dock. All other businesses here have closed down while they wait for answers. Omino
(Quinn's POV)Chaos crackles through the air like lightning. There is no normal anymore, only madness. With no end in sight. It’s only been a week since the eclipse changed everything, but it feels like an eternity ago. When this started, we all believed it would be over by now. The government is staying quiet. Their last press conference was three days ago and they've been silent ever since. The opposition party is lashing out, accusing them of withholding information. They have even gone as far as suggesting the government orchestrated it all. A political ploy gone wrong. Unleashing a terror that no one can contain.There is a lot of talk on social media. The loudest voices belong to the conspiracy theorists. No one is listening to them. Even though their ideas hold an element of truth. The ‘crisis’ has caused a
(Quinn's POV) Amid the shroud of darkness that has swallowed the world, the government's desperate pleas for normality have fallen on deaf ears. How can they expect us to be calm with everything that’s going on? Especially when they appear to be clueless? Now, we are practically prisoners in our own room. At first it was okay. We rebelled against the rules and got drunk in our dorm. We rocked the curfew, laughed, and made our own fun. Now that the alcohol is gone from the store shelves, all we can do is cross days off on the calendar. Just so we know where we are up to. This has become a necessity, as without the sun, the never-ending darkness blurs everything into one.When all of this started, I didn’t think it would take the government this long to figure out what was going on. But here we are, a week later, and none the wiser about what is really going on. They are obviously keeping a lot from us, but I don't get their end game. The only thing that comes to my mind right is obedi
(Quinn's POV)As soon as I reach my room, I straighten my clothes and fix my hair. I don’t want to tell the girls what happened. They will be furious. First, it'll be a lecture about my stupidity, that'll escalate into an argument. They think we should go back home before something bad happens. I open the door and walk inside the room. Emmerson and Piper are sitting on the sofa watching the television. They turn to me as I close the door. When I look at them, they are gazing at me intently. “Did something else happen?” I ask tossing my bag on the table. “No. What's that on your arm?” Piper asks, staring at my right forearm. I twist my arm to see what she's looking at and notice a thin scratch. Shit!“Oh, I fell when I was trying to open the door. I must have scratched it on the key,” I lie and take my place in the chair next to them. “That makes no sense.” Emmerson scowls and turns down the television volume. “What really happened?” “Nothing. Like I said, I fell when I was trying
(Quinn’s POV)We get dressed quickly. The air in the library is freezing against my clammy skin. Salvatore watches me as I put on my jeans. I check my pocket to make sure that Arion’s relic is still tucked safely inside. When I feel the small, solid pendant, I let out a sigh of relief. We are going to have to be more careful now that it is in our possession. It’s so tiny that it will be easy to lose, and although what just happened between us made me feel amazing, tossing my jeans on the floor with the relic in the pocket was kind of reckless. As Salvatore and I leave the mine shaft, I feel like everything is finally falling into place at last. We have something that will help us use the obsidian veil. Although we don’t know exactly how it works, I have faith that the relic changes everything. As we make our way through the dense forest, we try to be as quiet as possible. I move with caution. Every step I take is calculated. My heart pounds in my chest and adrenaline courses through
~*~Warning the following chapter contains a sexually explicit scene. ~*~(Salvatore’s POV) We follow the path around the village until we reach an old abandoned mine shaft. It’s the most random place for a library I have ever seen, but the supernatural said it was here and I have to believe him. We venture inside the tunnel that runs into the cave, following the old cart tracks that run underground.Wherever this secret library is inside the maze of tunnels, the tracks will lead us to it. As we move deeper into the tunnels and further underground, the air is heavy with the scent of dirt and dampness. How anyone could have spent their lives working underground in such harsh conditions, I do not know. It is difficult enough for me to breathe easily in here, so I can only imagine how hard it must be for a human. We walk in silence, focusing on trying to find the hidden library. I use my vampiric sight to scan the area, looking for anything out of place, and then I see it.“Over there
(Quinn's POV)As the final particles of the supernatural fade out of sight, I am left standing open-mouthed. I have no idea what the gift is that she gave us, where she went, or how she knew about our encounter with Arion. Then again, nothing in this place has been straightforward. Actually, it’s like the entire universe has gone crazy since the eclipse. Hopefully, when we find the obsidian veil, things will return to normal when the sun is back. “Come on, let’s head deeper into the forest to see what we can find,” Salvatore says. “Alright,” I reply, but I am not sure if I want to explore anymore with all the strange things we have found so far. We move further away from where we met Arion, and I hope we are on the right path. The relic he said we needed to use the veil is the most important thing right now. There are way too many things that we have to do, and it’s best to focus on one thing at a time. I’ve come a long way from my mission to bring back the sun. I knew it would be
~*~Warning the following chapter contains a sexually explicit scene. ~*~(Salvatore’s POV) The icy chill of the air surrounds us as we stand at the edge of the secluded forest. I lock eyes with my Quinn, her piercing blue eyes seem to glow in the strange light emanating from the trees and plants inside the clearing. It is a stark contrast to the darkness that has sucked the life out of us. Quinn is determined to complete our mission, but as she looks out into the unknown, there is a vulnerability there, buried beneath her fierce exterior. We move deeper into the forest in search of the being who is allegedly causing problems for the other supernaturals who call this place home. There is something about this place that feels different. It is almost like the air around us pulsates with an energy of its own. The whole area, in fact, seems to have its own heartbeat. We don’t even know what this creature we are hunting looks like, which could cause problems if we run into more than one
(Quinn’s POV)Even though it’s dark everywhere, somehow it seems to engulf us as we follow the path further into the dense forest. It isn’t easy to do, even with my shifter eyesight, because the path isn’t straight. It weaves through the trees, over ancient roots, and fallen branches that are thicker than my thighs. I’m glad that Salvatore is by my side. I can lean on him when it is too difficult for me to navigate. Ever since the eclipse, my senses have become more heightened in the darkness, making every rustle and whisper of the wind feel like a threat.“Are you sure this is the right way?” I ask, as we pass by a large tree that looks exactly like one we walked by five minutes ago. Even though I’m panicking, I try to keep calm despite feeling like we are lost in the middle of nowhere. I’m half expecting something to jump out on us any second. Salvatore looks at me, his eyes glow, even in our black surroundings, he presses his lips tightly together so they form a thin line as he tri
~*~Warning the following chapter contains a sexually explicit scene.~*~(Salvatore’s POV)As we sit amongst the trees, a sense of hope washes over me. There was never any doubt in my mind that we can do anything together. But with the odds stacked against us, it seems at times an impossible task. When we walked away from the first trial unscathed, I felt a sense of accomplishment. Our strange encounter with Arion, and his words of belief, makes me feel a little lighter. I can’t help but feel like the universe has given us a push in the right direction. Maybe we aren’t as alone in this as we thought. I glance over at Quinn and she appears to have a similar belief. The fierceness that has been engraved in her aura since my brothers captured her seems softer, and there is a glimmer of optimism.I turn to Quinn, “We should get moving. We still have to find the relic.” She stands up, and we move deeper into the dense forest. As we walk, I am on high alert, looking for any sign of the nex
(Salvatore’s POV)The loud clash of power echoes through the glen like thunder. Quinn stands by my side, ready to fight with every inch of her being. Her presence is like a beacon fuelling my strength. Together, we will do whatever it takes to get to the mysterious relic, that is supposed to be the key to unlocking the obsidian veil. The grotesque figure looms before us. Its size makes it a formidable adversary, but we won’t back down. We have faced so much the past few weeks and we have overcome every single one of them, even when they seemed impossible. This fight is no different. I look over to Quinn and see a fire in her eyes that mirrors my own. In this moment, she is more than a powerful shifter. She is the woman I love. She is a warrior and a force to be reckoned with. Her strength fuels my own, pushing me forward.We launch at the figure, and it moves with agility that contradicts its size. It takes all of our strength just to keep it away. I watch closely as it moves, lookin
(Quinn’s POV)We move deeper into the glen, guided by Arion’s prophecy. The air inside the ravine is filled with magic and mystery. The powerful energy I felt at the glowing rocks grows stronger with every step we take.“Quinn, look,” Salvatore says, pointing towards a clearing along the overgrown path.I squint, and notice what looks like the crumbling remains of an immense structure that seems to have been hidden from the rest of the world.“We should go check it out,” I suggest, and Salvatore nods. I’m on high alert as we carefully manoeuvre through the dense trees. Not only are we stepping into sacred ground, but I’m also on high alert. Arion said the relic was heavily guarded, and I have to be ready for anything. As we enter the clearing, I’m amazed at how beautiful the ruins are. Ivy covers the once magnificent walls. Between the vines, there are several intricate carvings poking through, and the images seem to depict some sort of great battle.“This could be where the relic is
(Quinn’s POV)As we leave the cabin, the chill of the early morning air nips at my skin. Today’s plan is to head deeper into the forest so that we can make our way to Wales undetected. The sky is a canvas of muted greys, blues and purples that should give way to the warm hues of dawn, but since the eclipse happened, we haven’t seen the sun. It feels like a lifetime ago, but it’s only been a few weeks. My heart sinks at the thought of this never ending night being a permanent thing. As much as we have been trying to stop it, it feels like we keep hitting dead ends. We stick to the dusty track, following a bend in its path, until we reach a secluded glade that seems to appear out of nowhere from deep within the shadows. As we get closer, I can feel a shift in the air. Someone has cloaked this place in ancient magical. That has created a mystical aura that sends a shiver down my spine. It’s as if time stands still inside here. Even the trees seem to whisper secrets, and I’m strangely dr