Chapter: Chapter One Hundred And Six Keira's Pov Flowers rained down on me, and screams and whoops emanated from the audience as I held blood red roses in my hands against the backdrop of my white wedding dress.Armless, showcasing my beautiful shoulders and slender arms.The dress was quite fitted at the waist where it flared out into beautiful pleats flecked with shining stones.Nikkie had spent quite a fortune on the dress. I can remember him ditching the idea of a brand new car he so much wanted just so he would make me pleased.Finally, it was my D-Day. Perhaps the day every woman grew up dreaming of. A day that ought to roll by perfectly without any hitches.The last few months had easily been the worst months of my life, but now, walking in the aisle, with Emily behind me as my best lady, my father's arm linked in mine, I felt like the happiest person in the universe.Finally, I was given to Nikkie and he took my hand in his. There was a shattering applause as he did so, and he opened my veil, his lips broadening
Last Updated: 2025-02-19
Chapter: Chapter One Hundred And FiveLuna's PovI woke up the next morning, yawning. I was alone on the bed, naked, and a smile crept onto my face.The memory of the previous night lingered like the aftertaste of sweet wine.“She's still asleep.” I heard Lily protest from outside.“I know. Just let me in.” That was Elaine.I got up from the bed, hair cascading over my shoulders, as I crossed the room to get my robe.Throwing it over my body, I went out to see what it was all about.“It's fine, Lily,” I said, going over to the long table to pour myself some water.“Luna, something strange happened this morning.” She said, and I dropped my glass, staring at her with my heart pounding a little faster.Something strange?The past few months held the strangest occurrences in all my life. What other thing could be stranger?I cleared my throat.Fear was definitely not the way to get around it.“What is it?”“Everyone else has forgotten. Nobody remembers there being two Lunas. They all think I'm crazy.”“How can nobody remember
Last Updated: 2025-02-19
Chapter: Chapter One Hundred And FourKeira's PovThat evening was set to be perfect. I'd already dyed my hair a beautiful brown and had combed it perfectly down my shoulders in waves.Then I selected a white gown with straps knotted into a ribbon at the shoulder. The dress was way above my knees, and hung gently on my figure, managing to outline the pretty curve of my body, and atrocious flare of my hips.Placing a simple silver choker on my neck, I paired it with short dangling silver earrings, and a pretty bracelet on my wrist.Then I tucked my hair behind my ear, and put on a pair of white heels, coupled with a white handbag.When I went down the stairs, Emily dropped the sliced watermelon from her mouth back into her plate as she watched me.I smiled, biting my lip, as my eyes went down shyly.“Girl! You are dressed to kill!” She sat up, dropping the plate on the table next to her.“Is it too much?” I asked, spreading out my arms.“What did you expect? My daughter is beautiful, so whatever she wears makes her all the
Last Updated: 2025-02-18
Chapter: Chapter One Hundred And ThreeLuna's Pov“Don't kill her yet.” Ryder said, taking my hand gently.“Oh. I actually didn't mean to kill her. I just wanted to show her how much her stupid tactics had gotten to me. Don't tell me she's out cold?” Ryder knelt to touch her neck.“Yes, she is out cold.” He confirmed.“Let go of me! You mad tyrant!” We heard Damien scream as Caleb brought him back roughly, pushing him to the ground.“Dark magic, huh? You rotten piece of shit.” Zane couldn't hold himself. He began to hit Damien, flinging him all around.“There goes the person you ought to control.” I said, jerking my head in Zane's direction as he battered the helpless Damien. “You know what I'd prefer for these two idiots as punishment?”Zane stopped, breathing hard, “What would that be?” He asked.“Put them in the dark dungeon. No light, no life, nothing. Put them there for the rest of their days. Forever.” I smirked, looking at Valerie.She would be the one to freak out the most. She would be the one to hate that life th
Last Updated: 2025-02-18
Chapter: Chapter One Hundred And TwoKeira's Pov“Keira, hurry! Breakfast will get cold!”My eyes fluttered open slowly.“Keira! Come on, how long do you have to sleep?”Mom.My eyes hit the ceiling— a familiar memory.Damn…I sat up in bed hastily, but winced slightly. I was still in bloody clothes with the slashes Zane had given me.But…“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHH!” I screamed, then began to jump, not minding the pain. I bounced on the bed, the tables, a little sofa, and back to the bed.“Keira, what…?” Mom opened the door, and I flung myself at her, knocking her backwards.“Mom!” I shouted, tears filling my eyes quickly.“What's wrong with you? Why are you this way?”“Mom.” I cried again, burying my face in her chest, taking in her lovely scent sweetly.“What's going on? What's with the noise?” Dad asked, and I ran to him, “Woah, woah, hold on!” He had to drop the flower pot he was holding just so he could catch me in his arms.“Keira, what's with your clothes?”“I was scratched by a dog.” I cried, lying convenientl
Last Updated: 2025-02-17
Chapter: Chapter One Hundred And OneLuna's PovIt was a feeling of relief as I fell to the ground, losing control of everything. The shock in Zane's haughty eyes was to die for.How sorry he would be when he realized his mistake. My eyes closed, and an insane shock ran through my bones. Energy from different cells burst to life, flowing through my veins like burning blood.I could feel my claws protrude from my fingers, and when my eyes slammed open, it was with a smile.Then I jumped up, full of energy, and everyone backed away, putting lots of feet between us, fear etched into their faces.“Welcome back.” Maini said, as I touched my arms, looking at my own body in fascination.“It is good to be back. Damn, I feel capable.”I wanted to smash my fist into something, wanted to hurl someone into the distance.Anything just to release the amount of energy surging through me like a torrent.Zane bent, staring at Keira.“That's not me. I'm over here.” I said, shooting him a grin.He looked confused, and Keira's eyes fluttere
Last Updated: 2025-02-16
Chapter: Chapter One Hundred And Seventy ThreeLucian's PovYears had elapsed since Deluna’s fall, and despite the wounds of war, the world had begun healing. What once had been a country full of tyranny and fright lived with hope in its heart. Vampires, living under Deluna’s tyranny, were free at long, long last. And I, with Naomi, had sworn ourselves to seeing freedom stretch to each and every soul yet living in shackles. We fought together, forging alliances, destroying whatever of Deluna’s corrupt empire lay in its path, and providing refuge and protection to souls that lived for too long in misery and agony. And yet, even with all that we accomplished, the greatest transformation hadn’t been in the world at all—it had been in me. Naomi tamed my rougher corners, taught me in virtue of love, in hope, and most of all, in the fact that redemption existed. And I, seeing her sit out on our balcony, in sunlight and in gold, bathing in sunlight, I saw that my greatest purpose no longer lay in commanding a people, but in protectin
Last Updated: 2025-02-06
Chapter: Chapter One Hundred And Seventy TwoNaomi’s PovThe battlefield hung in a dead, matted quiet. Once, with a reek of death and sorcery, but now with a mere whisper of wind, it breathed. The sky, which was shrouded in Deluna’s shadow, seemed lighter.I turned and looked around us, and saw the faces of my companions who fought with us. Some I recognized, scarred in battle, with looks of both loss and relief etched onto them. Others… Others were not with me.Travis.Alexander.Bane.They'd gone, some dead, and gone, whose fate I could not say. But one reality I could not deny is that those who fought with Deluna, who fought to maintain Deluna’s tyranny, died with her.Some of them, perhaps, still lay in shadows, but if ever again… They'd have to answer to us.I breathed out, a slow, deep one.Lucian, noting my hesitation, stroked my hair behind my ear, out of my face. His fingers were rough but kind, a reminder of battles won, of wars won, and of love won in choosing him."We did it," he whispered, eyes bloodshot and intent
Last Updated: 2025-02-06
Chapter: Chapter One Hundred And Seventy OneLucian's PovThe seconds ticked in slow motion as I saw Naomi’s delicate form move towards me. The whole scenario seemed dreamlike, a nightmare I couldn’t awaken from. And then, in a matter of a split second, her form collapsed onto the ground. Everything else melted, my eyes refocusing onto Naomi's dying form at my feet. My heart thudded savagely in my chest, a thudding beat drowning out everything else. "No… Naomi…" I faltered, dropping onto my knees at her side, my shaking hands extending out towards her. “No, no, no. This can't happen.” I touched her face, and her face was dispiritedly cool to my fingertips. Something deep and suffocating took over, its talons closing in my heart. Her eyes shut, her mouth a little apart, but no sign of life moved in them. My voice died in my mouth, taken over with horror. "How far are you willing to go, Deluna?"A faint echo of laughter sounded over my head, Deluna’s mocking laughter, sharp and cutting and rough-edged, like broken glass. How
Last Updated: 2025-02-06
Chapter: Chapter One Hundred And SeventyNaomi’s PovThe battlefield lay covered in shadow, thick with smoke, burning wood, blood, and residues of lingering magic. Under my feet, the earth shuddered minutely, unsure whether this war had actually reached its conclusion. Deluna was a distance of a few feet, her black cloak fluttering a little in the evening breeze, her eyes squinted in observation of me. She yet seemed powerful, untouched by events transpired about her. But I could detect it now, the tiniest tremble of doubt in her eyes. She was starting to understand. Understand that she wasn't as unscathed as she long convinced herself to believe. I breathed in, slow and deliberate, then moved to speak. "What request?" Deluna questioned me, with a taint of distrust in her voice. I jerked my head, raising my chin a notch. "What way would you like to breathe your last?" Her mouth twisted in a cold sneer, but I could detect tension in her shoulder. "You can't do that," she taunted me. I took a pace in her direction. "I
Last Updated: 2025-02-05
Chapter: Chapter One Hundred And Sixty NineLucian’s PovI'd long been convinced wickedness took a face and one I'd seen in both monsters and in men, too. But tonight, with dusk consumed and sunset gone, I saw an atrocity that challenged my definitions of wickedness and forced me to redefine them. I'd seen evil I could hardly have dreamed in my most fevered imagination.The sky wasn't at its radiant best, but one contrast alone remained: one silver glow of the moon painted everything with an eerie, dark radiance, and I could almost feel its vigor. I kept moving onward, a burning fury in my heart burning brighter with each pace I took. "Your face, moon," I whispered in a snarl of anger, "tonight, your face bore witness to my friend’s murder." Travis’s dying memories looped in my head forever: laughter, soft comforts, and a shocked cry of betrayal that took him from me. I hadn't seen him coming.Travis, a man who firmly insisted wicked souls bore a glimmer of virtue, lay dead, robbed of life at our hands through a wickedness I co
Last Updated: 2025-02-05
Chapter: Chapter One Hundred And Sixty EightDeluna’s PovDid I just kill Travis? The question echoed in my mind as I stood in the middle of the battle, blood on the floor. The taste of blood and regret was in my mouth, and I could barely breathe. The silence after the fight was louder than all the noise before.I staggered back, my limbs trembling as I tried to steady myself against a shattered column. Every heartbeat throbbed in my ears, a cruel metronome marking the passing of a moment I could never undo. The pain consumed me deeply; it was as though the very essence of my soul was being torn apart. I felt as if I might die from the weight of my own remorse.For a long while, I recalled our fight. Travis, even in his final moments, had pressed me with questions that now haunted my every thought. His eyes, full of anguish and bitter disappointment, burned into me as though searing my skin. I could still hear his voice in the clamor of my memories: "Why did you do all this, Deluna?" he had demanded, his tone a mixture of sorr
Last Updated: 2025-02-05
Chapter: Chapter 14: Last Run.Lucio POVRuby reached the gatehouse a step ahead of me and shoved the splintered door open so hard that it banged against the wall.Somebody had taken a crowbar to that lock while my drivers were busy shouting at the Lovato crew by the loading bay. It was my yard for one more week, and my men had been standing in it the whole time.Behind us, the engines had gone quiet. Nico stood by the Lovato cab with one hand on its door, and Beppe and the others had drifted across the yard until they formed a loose half-circle outside the lit window, watching through the glass.Vittoria did not get up from the chair. She finished tucking the end of the scarf into her collar and crossed her legs.“You broke my lock,” Ruby breathed.“Cesare’s men broke your lock.” Vittoria brushed a speck of dust off her knee. “I only sat down. It was cold out there.”“You’ve made it very cosy, Ruby.” Her eyes moved past her sister to the camp bed against the wall, then on to me. “Is the bed his?”The bed was Matte
Last Updated: 2026-11-07
Chapter: Chapter 13: Behind the Glass.Ruby POVMy boot skidded on the wet planks at the end of the pier, and I grabbed a fistful of Lucio’s sleeve to stay upright without slowing down.He did not slow either. He dragged the cab door open on his side, and I scrambled up into the passenger seat while the engine was still catching.Lucio took the harbour road far too fast. I braced one gloved hand against the dashboard and held his scarf closed at my throat with the other, and my heart kept pace with the engine the whole way along the seafront.The cold store gate stood wide open when we reached it. The chain lay cut through beside the gatepost in the slush, with the padlock still hanging off one end of it.Inside, the yard was full of headlights. A Lovato truck had backed in across the loading bay with one of the Moretti trailers half-hitched to its rear coupling. In front of it, Beppe and two of the Moretti drivers stood nose to nose with three Lovato men in blue overalls. One of the Lovato men held a tyre iron half hidden
Last Updated: 2026-11-05
Chapter: Chapter 12: AmendedLucio POV“Then Cesare can explain why his stamp is on a release nobody in that yard signed.”I got the words out before Ruby could move. Across from me, she had gone white to the lips. Her gloved hand had come down on the booking and stayed pressed there, as if the paper might blow away, and under the table her boot had gone rigid against mine.Mr Lovato did not even blink. “Cesare has a lawyer.” He looked at me over the rim of his glass. “My daughter has a truck driver.”At the end of the bar, Enzo Galli laughed through his toothpick.I leaned back in my chair. “A truck driver who reads the paperwork. Which is more than I can say for some people at this table.”Mr Lovato’s eyes narrowed. He had broken men on the docks over smaller insults than that, and everybody in the Circolo knew it.All day I had watched Ruby take hits: Rizzo’s questions, Cesare’s lies, and her sister on that step in front of the whole street. None of them had bent her. This one did. Her shoulders came down, her
Last Updated: 2026-11-03
Chapter: Chapter 11: The Booking.Ruby POVThrough the outer window of the gatehouse, I watched Lucio stop halfway down the steps with his phone pressed hard against his ear. His free hand closed into a fist at his side.I had the door open before he lowered the phone.“Who was that?”He turned round slowly and did not answer straight away. The silence alone made my stomach drop.“Your father.”The cold came in past him through the open door. Over by the grey truck, Beppe had given up pretending to look at his coffee.“What does he want?”“Me.” Lucio pushed the phone into his jacket pocket. “Tonight, at the Circolo Nautico. Alone.”“He didn’t ask for me.”“He was very clear about that.”“Then he’ll be surprised.”Lucio came back up the step until he stood in the doorway, close enough that I had to tip my head back to look at him. “He rang me. If you walk in at my side, he’ll think I brought you there to make a point.”“You did bring me. You’re my driver.”“I’m your driver until you deliver.” His jaw set hard. “After t
Last Updated: 2026-11-02
Chapter: Chapter 10: Grey WoolLucio POV"Let go of me, Ruby!" Vittoria's voice rose high and bright, pitched for the balconies. "You're hurting me."Through the open window of my cab, I could see Ruby's fist closed on the end of the grey scarf. She had not pulled on it. Her arm hung perfectly still between them, and the wool had not even tightened against her sister's neck.Vittoria's eyes filled anyway. Tears ran down her cheeks, and nothing else in her face moved. Her mouth stayed soft, and her forehead stayed unlined, as if the crying belonged to somebody standing behind her.I had watched plenty of drivers lie to me over fuel receipts. None of them had ever been this good at it.On the second-floor balcony, the woman in the dressing gown leaned out over her rail. The café owner stepped off his doorstep and stopped at the curb, wiping his hands slowly on his apron.Ruby's voice stayed low and level. "Take it off.""Papà gave it to me.""Mamma made it for me. Papà can't give away what was never his.""You're ups
Last Updated: 2026-11-01
Chapter: Chapter 9: New Locks.Ruby POV"Go on, Ruby." Cesare's voice carried over the younger officer's shoulder. "Tell him."Rizzo waited with his pen resting on the open notebook. Behind him, the gate guard had stopped stamping his feet, and Pace stood frozen in the office doorway with his mug halfway to his mouth.I did not know. That was the truth, and it was the worst answer I had.In my first life, Papà had never spoken that container number out loud. He had stayed silent about it even in July, when the grid was failing and men were fighting each other over generators outside the fuel depot. I had always taken his silence to mean he never knew. Standing in that yard, with Rizzo's pen waiting, I could not remember why I had ever been so sure.My stomach gave a slow, heavy turn."Ask him on Monday." I kept my eyes on Rizzo and my chin up. "I'd like to hear his answer myself."Rizzo studied me over the top of the notebook. Then he wrote one short line and underlined it. "Then I'll expect him at the station with
Last Updated: 2026-11-01
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