“Then what was it?” I cut in, moving to stand by Emory. “What did you do?”Willow blinks, her face panicked. “I don’t know.”“You’ve been in this castle for a long time. You’re old enough to have witnessed the witch hunts.” Emory has already told me the story Willow told her about how she came to be
“You managed to keep it,” Emory declares. “Like some kind of magical loophole.”That makes me glance at her belly even though she still isn’t showing. Nature has given us a loophole to have a child. It gave a witch turned vampire the ability to maintain her magic, which isn’t that far off. Nature al
RainerA vase comes flying at me as soon as I step into the suite. I quickly step aside, and the vase hits the wooden door, ceramic breaking on impact and leaving shards on the floor. I will have to get a maid to clean that up later. At this point, we are going to run out of breakable objects for Wi
“What happened with the witches was regrettable–”“It was barbaric!” she argues. “We were never any threat to vampires. We didn’t have the wealth or the organized strength of the shifters. We didn’t even have the numbers of the humans. We were the weakest, and King Michael hunted us for sport.”Fami
“No one tried to stop it.” She sounds distant. It makes me ache to touch her and be able to connect with her. “And now we expect Willow to fight in a war for the people that have wronged her most?”“None of it is fair. I wish I didn’t have to ask anything of her after what she’s been through,” I agr
EmoryA potted plant flies across the room and stops halfway before reaching me. It falls to the floor, scattering glass, dirt, and tulips everywhere. I stare in shock at Willow who is standing by the window. I hadn’t expected to have something thrown at me.“Sorry,” she says. “I thought you were Ra
“Gaius was like a father to me,” Willow continues. “He was kind and patient. He let me borrow as many books as I wanted from the library. He didn’t care that I wasn’t a noble, only that I needed the escapism found in those books.”“I’m sorry you lost him.”I never met the former librarian, but from
I manage to take a deep breath and return to reality. “That’s all very romantic, Kane. But we still have to be pragmatic about this. There’s no winning a war without allies. Bernard learned that the hard way, and look where he ended up.”I will be damned before Kane ends up imprisoned in someone’s d
Fractured memories of the night I nearly drank myself to death careen to the forefront of my mind. There was a woman. I don’t remember her face or her name. I was so far gone with drink and self-loathing that I gave in to whatever kind of attention and stimulations she had to offer. It was consensua
ColeThe letter came in the dead of night, rain-soaked and smeared, but I’d know her handwriting anywhere, in any condition. She’d written that she needed to see me, urgently, that it couldn’t wait, and she couldn’t explain why, not in a letter, not at the risk of what she needed to tell me going pu
EmeldaIt’s a quiet night. A long, silent walk from the castle. I needed this quiet, this stillness in the late summer air. Ravenfell comes into view beyond the trees, twinkling in the darkness. I smile, shaking my head as I look down at my shoes. I can still feel the weight of the twins in my arms
MichaelI haven’t been to Scarlet Thunder in… years. I didn’t realize how long it’s been until I pulled up to the back of the castle, somewhat startled by how small it looks compared to my memories from my childhood. Not that it's a small castle, but I'm much bigger now. I step out of my car, my fac
Faye“Oh, Faye, this is beautiful,” Emory says as she walks around the wide room on the second floor of the newly constructed manor. She runs her fingers over the pale blue and pink floral wallpaper and white trim, her jade eyes sparkling as she takes in the lace curtains and soft cream carpet. “I l
EmeldaIn the week since the twins were born, I’ve been busy with the final touches on my cottage. I spent days this past spring digging in the front garden, planting herbs and vegetables, and fixing the front path. I hired a group of shifters to replace the roof and update the inside, installing ne
Emelda“Thank you,” I say, hurrying at a near run as a maid takes my cloak. The castle is buzzing with nervous energy but remains quiet with even the maids tiptoeing around, trying not to make a sound. I’d remained in Ravenfell for the birth. I spent all night and most of this morning at Alma’s hou
FayeSomething’s wrong. Something has to be wrong. “You’re doing great. Keep pushing, Faye. You’ve got this,” Alma says, her face glistening with sweat and determination while I roar in pain. Michael clutches my hand, his other hand bracing my inner thigh as I bear down with all the strength I hav
Michael“It could be hours–or a day,” Alma says quietly as she arranges her tonics on a table just outside the bedroom where Faye’s finally getting some rest. “It’s been hours already,” I tell her, motioning toward the window in my suite in the castle where moonlight drifts through the panes, casti