Chapter 246

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 his head. “We are only here because I wanted to see my daughter’s likeness one last time.”

I glared at him. “Raven looks like her.”

He chuckled. “I cannot see Raven as easily as I can see you, and though she has similar features, she is nothing like Hedwig.”

I lifted my head. Marius chuckled.

“Stubborn pride and selfishness… She was always a brat… Do you think I spoiled her too much?”

“No more than you spoiled your own daughters,” the vampire king chuckled. “No more than I spoiled her mother. The time for blaming ourselves ended when she came of age. We cannot continue to carry the guilt of her decisions for the rest of our eternity.”

I looked at Marius. “He was banished! I thought he was killed.”

“I sleep,” Marius said. “And I was never banished.”

He shook his head. “Perhaps self-exile was the better term.”

The vampire king pat his shoulder. “We shall feast in the main halls together again like before, surrounded by those we call family.”

He turned his gaze back to me. “There was one other thing besides my selfish wish to indulge in seeing you… Messages and guideposts that may yet… do something to soften the Goddess’ anger toward you.”

I scoffed. “The Goddess isn’t angry with me. I gave her what she asked for. She’s giving me Candido. She’s given me everything I wanted.”

He shook his head. “You sound… so much like her. My heart aches knowing that you are walking the same path.”

He sighed as the lights outside shifted. “It doesn’t matter what you believe. The time we have is short, so listen. Estella is alive.”

My heart lurched in my chest, and I went stiff. “She can’t be.”

“Ian and Cillian found no need to tell you this because it would not further their aims, but I am telling you this as a warning. As Candido sleeps, so does she, and they all know that you are the reason she was so severely wounded.”

My jaw trembled as I thought back to what Cillian and Ian said about the closing of the gates. If people with vampire blood, including awakened werewolves could go between the worlds, when Candido woke up Estella could try to come over and take him from me.

One by choice and one by force…

Cold sweat dripped down the back of my neck and I growled. “I will kill her before she ever sees Candido again. I’m not going to let her corrupt him or steal him from me. He’s mine! The Moon Goddess has given him to me.”

Marius tilted his head back and laughed. The vampire king shook his head.

“If that is what you truly believe, then I suppose there is nothing left to say.” He smiled lightly. “Though I may put to rest the pain you have caused me and forgive you for your transgressions against us, know that you will always have my love… though you will no longer have my protection.”

The windows started to go dark.

“Just as Solare will slowly lose its light, you will fall into darkness with it… so find what happiness you can, Hedy.”

The darkness washed through my vision and I felt myself floating through the dark. I saw a glimpse of a large golden wolf lying in a shallow stream. It wasn’t Candido but Estella. Cillian appeared and kneeled beside her, stroking her head. His expression was soft and fatherly. I saw another couple nearby, huddled together and crying silently.

Then, I opened my eyes to a cool morning on top of the mountain and the sound of footsteps coming through the trees. I turned my head. The weakness from all the blood I lost was still weighing on me. I couldn’t smell the comforting scent of Candido though I felt his warm fur against my face.

The man that approached wasn’t familiar, but he was dressed like someone from Solare in plain clothes. He had a hand pressed to his side but as he looked at me, his expression brightened.

“I-Is he… The king?”

“He’s sleeping,” I said firmly. “He’ll… He’ll wake up soon.”

He let out a rattling sigh. “Thank you for standing guard over him, Luna Estella.”

I flinched at the address and set my jaw. “My name is Hedy. Estella was a traitor and she’s dead.”

He blinked and bowed his head. “My apologies, Miss Hedy.”

“Luna,” I corrected. “Candido is my mate.”

He frowned and looked between us skeptically, but he didn’t say anything else before he turned back.

“There’s a truck nearby,” he said. “Could you float him to the truck?”

I glared at him. “Are you asking me to use more of my power given the state I’m in? Do you have any idea how much power I’ve used? I’m lucky not to be unconscious too.”

He looked uncertain before dropping his gaze. “You… I don’t recognize you from the battlefield… but it has been a long night. I’ll call a team to make sure we can transport the king.”

He hobbled away, and as he walked away, I realized that I was going to have to do a bit more work than I first thought. It seemed like more people than I thought had been under Estella’s influence. I stroked Candido’s fur.

“No one is going to take you from me, Candido,” I said gently. “No matter what it takes.”

The team that came had no powers. They all looked ashen and pale as they drove the truck closer to Candido and tried to lift him into it. It took eight men because they were all so weak. The drive down the mountain was long and quiet. I sat in the back, stroking Candido’s fur and listening to what these men had to say about the end of the battle and what the plan was now.

As we rode down the mountain, I saw other smaller groups coming through the forest and hauling clothes and shoes and whatever else they could find onto the back of trucks and following. I looked across the battlefield to where everyone had started to gather, but there couldn’t have been more than a hundred people left. There were no tents being set up. People were crying out in pain, but I didn’t see anyone from Blue Moon or Moon Shadow. I didn’t see anyone from Wolf Fang either. I didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but having such a small group of people was probably for the best.

It would be easier to kill the few people I needed to kill for my future with Candido.

“My mark is gone.”

I frowned and looked over to where the man had spoken. His sleeve was rolled up as he stared down at his arm and ran his fingers over it.

“What… What could that possibly mean?” He let out a stuttering breath. “S-She can’t be dead. She can’t be!”

I watched as others started to panic and search the rest of the camp. People grabbed radios and started to make calls for everyone to head toward the ruined city beneath the mountain. The burnt-out buildings didn’t look inviting, but as the clouds started to gather, they were better than nothing.

“We’ll stay here,” I said, looking at the best building in the area. “Find a bed for the king.”

Everyone looked hesitant, but when they saw Candido’s body in the back of the truck, they hurried away. There was a look of fear in their eyes as they hurried, but they were moving slowly. It seemed that hours had passed before they had put together some kind of bedding for him. A different group of men helped get Candido’s body off the truck and inside.

As soon as they lay him down, the bed creaked and seemed to melt into the floor. The blankets vanished. The floor beneath him dissolved. The cement seemed to erode until Candido was lying on the bare earth beneath the building.

“What—”

I held up a hand and watched as the light that had been in Candido’s fur started to flicker and fade, pulsing in waves into the ground. I rushed forward.

“Get him up!”

An invisible wall repelled me and formed into a dome of light.

“What’s… happening?”

“It’s a sign from the Moon Goddess,” someone said. “Maybe… Maybe she’s trying to restore the king…”

I placed my hand on the wall and sunk to my knees beside it.

“Go,” I said. “You have other things to do.”

No one said anything, but it was a while before anyone moved either.