Three days had passed since I walked out of Candido’s office. I knew that his wedding was happening soon, but I didn’t want to think about it. I wanted him to feel my absence and get used to it because as soon as they were married, I would have to leave. Maybe I wouldn’t be kicked out of the pack, but there was no way I would share the house with her.I’d just move onto campus and never come back for any reason. Maybe Claire would want to get an apartment off campus. I’d officially be a carefree adult, provided that the vampires didn’t attack and destroy everything.I avoided meals, not bothering to eat, no matter who tried to offer me food or how loud my stomach growled. I distracted myself from the hunger by focusing on my investigation into the attacks and everything I had learned from listening to the meeting.The military problem was bigger than I first thought. I didn’t want to admit it, but maybe Francium’s father was right. Mobilizing now would almost be ineffective. I sent a
The message that I hadn’t read from Armageddon was still in my inbox, but I just couldn’t focus enough to even think about reading it. If he was really my mate, then I had time. I couldn’t even entertain that thought more than I already had without dealing with my feelings for Candido.Rather than opening the document, I went searching through the Moon Shadow mainframe for discrepancies and glitches. I found nothing, but that didn’t mean they didn’t exist. I turned to the evidence of the attacks from New Moon that were flooding in when the chat box opened with a message from Armageddon.You haven’t replied to my message. Are you avoiding me?Yes. Yes, I was, and I wasn’t ashamed to acknowledge that, but I didn’t want to tell him that. Another message appeared.Did I frighten you? I know I can be… intense.My lips twitched, and I replied.I’m just not in a place to deal with a mate right now.I could see him trying to reply, but nothing came. I continued working through my notes until
My entire body was tense at the news. Werewolves didn’t bite each other to mark each other as mates. We had moon marks. Even if it was a kink, opening your mouth wide to bite someone was a bit extreme. I thought back to the photos from the attacks where people’s throats were ripped out. Francium could have easily done that to Claire if he hadn’t pulled back.I wondered why he had. The drug seemed to take over good sense. Was it because they were mates?My stomach turned. I couldn’t be sure that Francium was a part of the attack, but he could have been aiding them in some ways, transporting bodies, and so on. It would explain the blood and everything else. He was involved. Those pills were probably some version of the substance that was killing werewolves and making them crazy.I thought back to the women who had been recovered and found to be pregnant. What if this wasn’t a new thing? What if werewolf women had been stolen before, impregnated and their children were used to infiltrate
“Do you think he’d talk to you about it all?”Claire glanced at me. “Do you think it would be safe to ask?”I shook my head. “I still say it’s better for you to stay away from him for now…. You could stay at the estate. Classes have been cancelled for practically the rest of the semester. You could just come home.”Claire shook her head, lowering her head. “I can’t… I don’t want to.”Her voice trembled on the edge and I sighed. “Well… then, how about chaperoned visits?”Claire scoffed. “What am I ten?”“No, but you’re in danger. At least this way, you could still see him. We could… do double dates or something.”“With you and His Majesty?”I scoffed. “No.”“Then who?” She quirked an eyebrow at him. “Who would you really want sitting next to you on a double date?”I wrinkled my nose. “No one. Not really, but this isn’t about me. It’s about you.”Until I could investigate Francium and his family more thoroughly it was really the best option.Claire nodded, “You’re a good friend. I’ll… I
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing or what I was seeing. I leaned back around to be sure I wasn’t wrong, but there was no mistaking it. He was shorter, slimmer, and much paler than Candido, with lighter hair. While he was still taller than Sibyl, even in her heels, he wasn’t as tall as Candido. I pulled my phone out, aiming it at the sight and pressing record. I zoomed in to make sure I got their faces and focused my hearing to get every bit of their conversation.Was he in league with the vampires or just Sibyl’s lover? Who else would benefit from getting Sibyl on the throne quickly other than Norton?“But… But I’m so close,” she said. “Oh, please…”“That’s what you get for being over-eager. What if your father comes out here and catches you?”“Oh, he already knows, you know that,” Sibyl said. “Everything will be fine. Don’t tease me like this.”“And Candido?”“My father will keep him busy for a long time. Hours. Candido’s going to fight to the end to hash out all the details and
I could try to run, but nothing in me said it was a good idea. It would be better to try and get as much as I could out of this man. Slowly, I rose to my feet, stepping just out of the shadow of the tree, but no further. If I distracted him, I could hope to outrun him, but that was a slim chance. He’d darted over her so fast. Before I even managed to push my power, I would be caught, but maybe I could fight him off enough to get closer to the house to alert security. There had to be a guard around here.If not Candido’s guards, then there was definitely a Moon Shadow person around. I’d had them tailing the Red Moon cars for a while. Someone would be nearby. I had my safety beacon on, so at least if I died here, someone would find me, but I didn’t feel like he was going to kill me tonight.At least, I hoped he wasn’t.“You’re much prettier up close,” he said, looking at me. “That golden hair of yours is really something. I thought it might be a dye job, but your eyebrows are about the
I thought he would come out, surely, he heard me, but he didn’t show up. I almost called his name again.Then, I heard Sibyl’s voice. “I didn’t think I was asking anything hard! You should pay for my dress!”“Have your father pay for it,” Candido replied.She growled as I leaned against the wall near his office door. They had to be around the corner. Normally, I would have walked on, but I couldn’t muster up the strength, so I slumped down and simply listened.“You’re being so selfish. I’m not the only one getting married! I’m going to be queen—”“You will never be queen, Sibyl,” he growled. “How many times—”“I’ll be your wife! You can’t deny me my right.”“I can do as I please,” he said. “The budget stands as it’s the only thing your father can afford. Perhaps you should be focused on finding something suitable since you moving up the date so much has eaten through over half of it.”“Why can’t I just be excited to be married to you?” Sibyl asked. “Why are you acting like this is suc
I shuddered, thinking back to the man and the glow of his eyes, the way his face had shifted and changed. I felt sick. He’d met Candido already and no one had ever noticed the difference.The link between vampires and werewolves had to be stronger than I thought if they could slip into our society basically undetected.I had to talk to Candido. I had to try and keep calm during the conversation and not get upset with him. He was such a great man, sticking to his morals and all that, but this was about more than that.Now that he had at least started to think about what vampires could want with werewolf women, why they showed up pregnant and so on, he had to start questioning Sibyl. Maybe he just believed that she was entangling herself with another werewolf to spite him or just to be willful and selfish, but maybe not.I got out of the tub and wrapped my injuries as much as possible. Someone had left a tray of food and I ate it. My hunger strike wasn’t doing me any favors if I had to