I struggled against the darkness. I knew I was unconscious, but as I pushed and pushed against whatever she had prayed me with, I felt my mind waking up. I pushed my power to strengthen my mind and senses, listening for something. I felt something jostle me. If I had to guess, Bella either stumbled over me or kicked me. Then I heard her feet going away.What was her plan? I didn’t know, but as I forced my eyes open, the ceiling spun in my vision. I heard her getting farther away. I grit my teeth, pushing at the heaviness in my body until I could turn onto my side and drag myself away from where I had fallen. My head pounded. Had I hit my head? I didn’t know.My heart was beating a mile a minute with fear and panic, but I tried to focus. I had to move. Even avoiding her plan, staving it off a little would buy me time. Team Gamma-2 would come looking for me soon. I heard my phone ringing, but I couldn’t get to it.If I didn’t answer it on the second try, they’d come after me. I just had
I was running. I didn’t know where or how, but I knew on the other side was something I needed. I heard Candido speaking to me. Sometimes his voice was gentle. Sometimes I heard him growling, but I felt his presence nearby. He didn’t leave me though I didn’t know what I would be waking to. Whenever he spoke, I felt like I was drifting closer to consciousness. When silence fell around me, I sunk.I slept for a long time. I don’t know how long, but it felt like at least a few days. I didn’t want to wake up and face what had happened. The way the world had spun and the sound of them laughing at me chased me nearly every time I started to relax.“You’re okay, Hedy. I’m here.”Candido’s voice kept the sounds at bay when he spoke, but he wasn’t always there. I felt disoriented and lost. My skin felt like it was burning. I felt like I was freezing and everything in me was confused. Moonlight drifted through my eyes. I swore I heard a wolf howling in the distance.Then, for a moment, I was st
Candido said nothing for a moment, seemingly thinking about what to say, but it only made me worry more. I could believe that Candido hadn’t even considered what it would do to him to shift and kill them all, but I was worried. Now was not the time to lose him. Now was not the time for him to be reckless either. Things were ramping up, getting worse, with each passing day. This was just part of it. Had any of them been in opposition to Candido? Were they just disgruntled and using me to hurt him, or were they just at Bella’s beck and call?Did it really matter since they were all dead? Where was Bella? Did Steven know about any of this? Were there other people involved? Was it all connected somehow? I had many issues with Steven and the Wolf Fang Pack, but he had always seemed too proud to defect to the vampire side, but things were different now.I knew nothing about Lilian so it wasn’t improbable that she had some connection.The spray was nothing like anything I had ever heard of.
Allen looked uncomfortable with the line of questioning and he left soon after.“Candido, are they…”He took another bite of bread and lifted his own bowl of soup into his hands.“Eat, little one. You need your strength.”If that wasn’t a signal that he wasn’t going to talk about it, I didn’t know what was. So, I ate without complaining. I scooted closer to him and made him feed me bits of cake. Maybe I was pretending a little about being too tired, but Candido didn’t seem to mind. If anything, he seemed to love the idea of caring for me.I smiled and basked in his attention, knowing that he was never like this with Sibyl or anyone else. This affectionate and soft side of him was just for me.Candido hardly left my side while I was recovering. He’d cuddle me close and read to me until I fell asleep. He stayed up and helped me get through the homework I was missing and the lecture notes. His constant attention meant that I couldn’t sneak a check-in with Moon Shadow, but I found that I
I woke up early, got dressed and packed. With about twenty minutes to spare before I needed to be heading out, I logged into my Moon Shadow laptop to check on the investigation of the murders. Armageddon had added several files to my research folder including a few other attacks that had resulted in deaths with the same pattern as the others and the case file of Bella’s orchestrated attack. My heart lurched. Did Armageddon know it was me? I had only been offline for a week. That wasn’t unusual. I opened the note attached. Unidentified substance used to incapacitate the victim. Tracing origins. Sent to lab under ID# HCAKP-144538966. I relaxed a bit. It wasn’t that I hadn’t thought that it was probably connected. I was glad that Armageddon was seemingly getting involved in this. The lab hadn’t completed its analysis, but the preliminary notes suggested that it was related to the substance found in the blood on other scenes. I swallowed thickly. Had Bella known that it was proba
The first round ended quickly. They were fast, but they weren’t anticipating how clever Claire and I were on the field together. It was a great start for us. When we stepped off the field, we walked around the stadium before heading back to the hotel room for a team strategy meeting and dinner.Candido texted me just as we were finishing dinner.Congratulations on your first win. I smiled and replied. Would have been better if you were here.Who says I wasn’t?I pouted and cast my gaze around, and frowned. Why didn’t you come say hi to me? And where is my present?Don’t pout, princess. I’m here. I frowned and looked up, trying to use my instincts to find him.“Hedy? You okay?” Claire asked.I turned around and nodded. “I’m good. I just…”A sense of awareness pricked the back of my neck. I turned again until my gaze fell on someone who was dressed in a plain back suit, half-hidden behind a support beam.I walked towards the figure, my stomach churning with excitement as I grew nearer
He knew better than I did that I couldn’t answer that. Aside from him definitely been healthier, bigger, stronger, and older, there was the matter of our secret identities. We’ve worked together for the past four years, but we couldn’t blow that all now. Not when everything was so dangerous and unsure.Still, the way his hands skimmed over my hips made it hard not to give in. Heat and pleasure pooled between my legs. I wanted more of his hands on me, whomever he was. It was insane because I couldn’t think of anything else I wanted more. I thought back to my dreams of Candido, and the feeling of need and desire started to grow.A pang of fear went through me. Was this what people talked about when they mentioned the draw of a mate? But what about Candido? I love him. I couldn’t even imagine giving my body and heart to anyone else.“We’re… here about—”“I know what we’re here about,” he ground out, forcing his face into the crook of my shoulder. “You smell delicious. I could devour you
The cry for allegiance was resounding, but Candido was already gone. I was sure that he could hear it echoing through the stadium. After a little while longer, we checked out of the hotel and headed back to campus. I carried the trophy onto the bus and everyone cheered for me.“Cheers to Hedy and Claire!” The captain said.“Cheers!”I looked up at the familiar voice. It was Francium boarding the bus to head back with us, grinning alongside the president of rugby’s administration. His eyes were bright and happy. There was something in his posture that gave me pause. He seemed healthier than the last time I saw him.“Francium?” Claire asked. “What are you doing here?”“Surprise!” He said. “I’m the new vice president. We finished up just in time to see the last game.”His eyes drifted over to Claire and grew intense as he looked at her. “You were great, Claire.”Claire’s face turned bright red. “Th-Thanks…”He grinned. “We’re hosting a party for the win, and you two back on campus. The w