My head was pounding. The world was spinning. I felt exhausted, but the one thing I could note I wasn’t in a bed. I wasn’t in a warm room full of familiar scents and comforts. The floor was hard and cold beneath me. I smell stale water and stone much like the cell I had been held in. Was I back there?My eyes burned. Had I gone through all of that with nothing to show for it?Then, a familiar scent hit my nose: warm, a little musky and bright with just a tinge of the scent of whiskey.It was Candido. Was he here?I craned my head left and then right, hoping to see him, but I couldn’t focus. The world kept going in and out like my eyes couldn’t adjust to the light. I turned again, but all I saw were two wooden chairs that looked like they were better off as firewood, a cold fireplace, and a few other random things. This looked more like a storage room than a bedroom or a holding cell.I lifted my head. Had Ian just moved me to torture me some more?“You’re awake.”Candido’s voice was r
There was nothing but anger in his eyes. I was struck silent and frozen in place. Never had I imagined that Candido would really look at me like that. I thought back to Raven’s warning and shuddered. She’d been right about how he would react, but maybe… Maybe if I’d told him when I found out, he wouldn’t be so angry with me.He still smelled so good. I still wanted to… I still wanted to bit him, to drink from him and—I shuddered and turned away from him, closing my eyes and trying to resist, but it was so hard.“I… I wanted to tell you—”“But you didn’t,” Candido said. “Were you ever going to tell me? Hm? Before we were mated? Or was I just going to find out when you caved and bit me one day?”I shook my head and met his gaze. “I… Raven—”“Who the hell is that?”“My sister.”He scoffed. “Is there anything I know about you that’s true?”“Of course, there is!” I cried. “I only found out recently, and so much has happened, I just—I just didn’t want you to hate me. I love you, isn’t that
I couldn’t remember much. I felt hot thought, like my blood had turned to fire while I was unconscious and I was adrift in an ocean of fire. I turned reaching out, trying to get my bearings but I couldn’t.Candido.Where was Candido?I didn’t know.I remembered that I had seen him recently.An image of him bound and glaring at me flashed through my mind, but I couldn’t hold onto it.Slowly, the world seemed to come back to me. I smelled stone, but the air was warmer. I could smell Candido near me. Someone’s hand was on my head, stroking my head softly.I grunted, trying to speak, but all I heard was a low growl. The hand stopped briefly and pressed firmly before I could try to lift my head.“Sleep,” Candido said, his voice soft and low. “You’re too weak to try to get up right now.”I tried to speak, but all I heard was a low whine. An animal whine. Then I realiz
I growled, but I couldn’t do much else. Candido grunted, putting the shirt on, and standing. He wrapped me up in a blanket and lifted me. His arms trembled. I could see the sweat breaking out on his forehead.The man laughed. “Pride before the fall, I guess. Don’t fall down the stairs. I’m not saving you.”Candido grunted. I whined, wanting him to do something. To get rid of this man. I knew he had the power to do it. Why wasn’t he doing anything? He hadn’t even looked like he cared that Troy had hit me.Candido carried me downstairs slowly. By the time we reached the bottom, the man looked irritated.“Would have been faster to make her walk, honestly.” He rolled his eyes and pushed the heavy door open. I expected the darkness of the caves and the cold, but there was none of that.The light of the silver moon made the sky glow like it was day time. In the distance, there was a dark sky that looked like a regular night. In the other direction, the sky melted into the familiar blue of t
“Artemis, wait—”“Go to hell,” she hissed. Gilgamesh lunged for her. Three members of New Moon surged to block him off.Members of Moon Shadow seemed to back Gilgamesh up.Then, the door opened.“As useful as it would be for you to all die in a fight, I would hate to waste my people’s time by having them clean up the carnage,” Ian’s voice cut through the hall. “But do go on and quicken yourself to your deaths.”Vanessa turned, glaring at him. “And what the hell does that mean?”“Moon Shadow and New Moon, while in opposition, are after the same thing,” he said. “And you’re doomed to fail.”Francia gasped as she turned to look at Ian. I turned as Ian swept through the room. He glanced at me and rolled his eyes.“What a waste of time,” he said and flicked his hand in my direction. A burst of light shot towards me.Candido turned sharply but he didn’t move fast enough. The light hit me and tossed me off the table. I shrieked, tumbling through the air and landing in my perfectly human form
He paused and looked back at me. His gaze was as cold as it always was.He blinked.“Well?” I hissed. “Aren’t you going to answer me?”“I hope your current vagueness is not an attempt at effecting some sense of mystery...” He cocked an eyebrow.“What--?”“Precisely,” he said. “What are you talking about?”I growled at him. “In the forest! You attacked me.”He scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Hardly.”“You made me drink something. What was it?” I glared at him. “Did you turn me? Did you—”“I would not have wasted the effort,” he said. “Nor would I have needed to. It doesn’t matter what I gave you, only that it saved your life and stopped Damian from taking your power.”The fact that he wouldn’t answer made me even more suspicious. It did matter. Whatever he’d given me had changed me somehow. It was probably the reason why I couldn’t feel Candido any longer, the reason that I felt so different.“What does that even mean?” I shrieked. “I’m so sick of you not telling me anything and acting l
He looked back at me then to Candido before shaking his head. “I’ll come with you.”Claire went still. “But Francium, you heard—”“She is my mother, Claire,” Francium said, meeting her gaze. “There are very few people I can still trust and she is at the top of the list… Not trusting her got me into all of this mess in the first place.”Claire said nothing. She turned away from him stiffly. He took her hand gently and turned her back towards him, cupping her cheek.“We’ll talk more later.” He pressed a kiss to her lips and turned to leave, following Francia.The sight of them made my heart clench with longing. I looked up at Candido wanting him to kiss me too, but he didn’t even look at me. He steered me back to the table and pushed me down onto the bench before making me a plate. He leaned against the table with a shudder as I ate. Claire sat across from us; her eyes focused on the phone she had been given. Candido was typing on his screen and the entire hall was silent.I ate, but ev
We parted at the door of my room. I heard him walking away and looked over at the white dress Raven had left me. I dug through the room and found a bag full of the things that I had been carried when I’d been taken from the compound. I crossed the room and found the closet full of clothes. They were mostly white or light colors, and a little bigger than me.I held up the dress Raven had given me in the mess hall. It would be big on me, but not too big. A belt would be enough to make it look okay.There were new boots in the closet, cute boots, and a little bag with gold coins in it and the compact mirror that Raven had given me.I thought back to the look on her face in the mess hall. Why would she look like that? I set my jaw and scowled. What difference did it make? She was on Ian’s side. Even if we were sisters, we were never going to have much of a relationship, if any. My place was with Candido. I was a werewolf. She was a vampire. There was no way that we could ever really get a
She cocked an eyebrow. “They might be related, but there’s no way to know if they’re compatible.”“They’re both golden wolves. That should be enough.” I swallowed. “I don’t care what you have to do, you have to keep him alive.”Her eyes drifted down to Candido with an odd expression on her face. “I’ll see what I can do,” she looked up at me. “But… there will be a hefty cost.”“I don’t care,” I said. If Candido was really being used to stabilize Solare, whatever that meant, then I had make sure that he had enough life force, that his body still remained, after that was done to wake up. “I developed a drug that strengthened wolves,” she said. “I have a feeling that it would at least help.”My eyes bulged. “You’re… You’re the one who made the drug for the vampires.”She smiled. “I am. And?”I growled at her. “You’re a traitor.”Her smile turned cold. “And you aren’t the alpha king’s mate.”She cocked an eyebrow. “Given the state of the world, do you think they’ll care?”“Of course, the
“It was unsure if my Beloved King would have ever risen again and to what world,” she said. “It was for the best that I changed the path.”“We’re mates,” I said again. “We’re mates. Nothing you say can change that.”“Mates,” she scoffed. “A tool for conquest. Were you not listening? The vampiric power you inherited from your mother was the only reason you could fake the moon mark. The white fur you inherited from your father turned platinum because of it. When you were no longer a vampire, after Cillian had drained the last of that power out of you, you were just a plain werewolf…”“I don’t believe you,” I said. “I won’t believe you. You’re just trying to trick me.”“Your real moon mark vanished the night that your mate died trying to protect you.”I saw the senior diving in front of me and jerking as the bullets hit him in the chest. “Him?” I growled. “No. I can’t believe that.”“Neither could your mother,” she laughed. “By the time you met your grandfather, I had already been makin
I pushed at the wall, trying to get over there and drag Estella away from Candido. Then, Vanessa appeared dressed in a wispy gauzy red dress. She looked younger than the last time I had seen her. Two younger men followed her, chatting with her though I couldn’t make out what they were saying. They were dressed in red tunics. Then, I saw Claire and Francium striding towards them in red. They were holding hands. Her hair was gathered up in a flower wreath as they smiled together. They looked so happy together as they sat beside Candido and Estella. Soon, I saw other people. I saw Claire’s parents and the people I remember dying over the course of the war. They sat together in a circle around Candido and Estella, chatting happily. “Don’t be happy!” I yelled, banging on the wall. “Claire! You’re supposed to be my friend! Get her away from my mate!”No one even noticed I was there. They laughed and chatted, welcoming other people as they came to join them. Everyone else was wearing red,
Weeks passed, and in that time, I made the remaining people do what needed to be done. They fixed up the building Candido and I were in. While they couldn’t get the water or electricity working, there was a roof and the floors were cleaned. They brought me food when they came to check on Candido and busied themselves with trying to contact whoever else might be alive. “Miss Hedy.”I looked up, glaring at them. “How many times have I told you to call me luna?”The man lifted his head. “Until the king confirms it, I would never disgrace the position that way.”I glared at him. “Then, I suppose you’ll be tried for treason, then.”His eyes narrowed as two people entered the room. “You’re supposed to be regent, right?” The woman asked. “You have some authority.”I lifted my head. “I’m luna.”She pointed at the man beside her. “Then tell this man that I want nothing to do with him and he should leave me alone.”“We’re mates!” He growled. “You’re not going to leave me.”“There is no mark,”
When I opened my eyes, I knew I wasn’t awake. Candido wasn’t there with me. I was seated across a long table that I had never seen before. The windows were all made of stained glass. Moonlight filtered through the colorful glass and sent the colors splashing everywhere. At the other end of the table was the vampire king. He was darker than I remember, but his hair glowed the way it had in that castle. The crown on his brow twinkled with light. To his left, like an odd reflection, was Marius. His blonde hair didn’t glow, and he didn’t wear a crown, but looking at the two of them it was so obvious that he was related to the thing. Their eyes glowed the same. I clenched my jaw and glared at them both. “Where am I?” I asked. “If you think you can change my mind about—”“The time to change your mind has long since passed, Hedy,” the vampire king said softly. His lips twitched into a small smile. “The time to make different decisions is long since over.”He took a deep breath and shook h
I shook my head. “You’re lying. You have to be lying. How would you know if the door was closed?”He laughed. “It was closed to her and all the other traitors. No child of Lunae who still walks in the Goddess’ grace would be turned away from returning home.”I swallowed and shook my head. “She never got Candido’s grandfather or father… I imagine she’s burning with jealousy that you’re so close to what she wanted,” he smiled. “Or maybe she’s proud that you share the same tastes.”“None of that matters,” I said. “I’m not a vampire. I never was. I’m a werewolf. I’m Candido’s mate. Tell me what you plan is. What are trying to do? If you’re trying to hurt Candido, I’ll never forgive you.”He laughed, throwing his head back. “Why would I give a fuck about your forgiveness, traitor?”“I— ““You’re even worse than Hedwig in some ways,” He laughed. “At least Hedwig mourned Candido’s father and grandfather. At least she was faithful in her pursuit. You jumped at the chance to get as close to f
I fell to the ground, choking. For a moment, I imagined Candido stroking my hair like we were in one of the parlors at the Estate before the war. I could almost hear him reading a book to me, some book that I was supposed to read for class but didn’t want to. I didn’t remember the words. I wasn’t even paying attention to his words or the book. I didn’t care. I just loved that he was spending time with me. It was all that I wanted. It was all that I had ever wanted. I closed my eyes and let myself sink into the memory. Slowly, the darkness faded. I felt his lips on my forehead then he was gone. It was so cold. I shivered in the wind that picked up over the mountaintop. I opened my eyes. Dawn was coming over the mountain. I shook and rolled over and tried to get up. I could see Candido there. His fur was still golden. He hadn’t turned back. He didn’t move. I crawled toward him. “Candido?” I whispered. “Candido? You can’t be gone… She promised me. I… You promised.”I got to him and we
“Fuck!”I rolled over and tried to see what was happening as I sucked in breath after breath. I choked, trying to catch my breath as I saw a glint of silver cut through the air. The man barely choked as his head tumbled through the air. His body went up in flames. Then, I saw Raven’s face. Her eyes were filled with blood-red light.She walked toward me. A flash of silver went by me and the gag loosened. I spat it out and my hands fell apart like the cuffs were broken. Her sword was aimed at me. Her expression was cold as she looked at me. Her hand trembled. Tears streamed down her face. Her jaw trembled. Then, she lowered her blade. I couldn’t believe it. I looked around, searching for someone else, but there was no one. It was just the two of us behind the barrier. Then, the wall of light shimmered and started to fade.I heard a stroke of thunder and turned as lightning fell from the sky and slammed into the side of the mountain. I smiled. Candido was using his power and winning. W
The fury simmered behind the tears in her eyes before she turned back to the group. They talked a little longer When they broke apart, none of them came my way. Most of them went with Wren, but the man with bandages headed toward a different truck. I eyed him suspiciously. What was he doing separate from the rest of them? Were the rest of them going to Candido and leaving him behind? Where were they going?I looked across the way as Harper and Wren and the others looked at me, glaring. Their eyes were filled with red light. They drove away, never taking their eyes off me. One of the women was crying. I looked over at the bandaged man as he hauled himself onto the back of the truck, still leaning to one side. Then, the truck I was in started to drive away. I turned back to see where were going and knew we were headed toward the mountain from my vision. My heart started to race. It seemed like we were heading to the end of the war now.“Black Team,” someone said. “En route to Gold Tea