Magnus wakes up through the night to discover that Nina has not yet gone to bed. He peers out the window to check if Nina is still by the moon tree. There's no trace of her. 'I can't smell her scent,' 'Nina?' He shouts as he walks down the hallway and then down the stairwell. Lilac and May are the first ones to leave their bedrooms. 'Alpha Magnus, it's like three o'clock in the morning. Why are you shouting?' Lilac asks, adding a yawn. 'Have any of you seen Nina?' He asks, 'She didn't come to bed with me last night,' 'When was the last time you saw her?' May inquires. 'She was under the moon tree with Reaper. I'll go wake him up and ask him if he knows where she has disappeared to. Not that he can tell me, but perhaps he can show me.' As Magnus approaches the moon tree, he notices Reaper, fast asleep with his beak tucked beneath one of his wings. 'Reaper, Reaper, I need you to wake up.' Reaper stirs awake, stretches his wings, and clicks his beak. 'Nina didn't c
‘Alpha Magnus, I hope you weren’t intending on letting Alec out? Is that why you wanted us to remain unaware of the note's contents?' Yiselda asks. Reaper squawks furiously at her before flying from Magnus's shoulder and walking through the bars, perching on Alec's shoulder. Alec scratches Reaper's beak and pats him, much to Yiselda's bewilderment. 'In all honesty, Yiselda, I had no idea whether I would release him or not, but I came prepared, for if I do. All I know is that I need Nina back in my arms and if we can’t come up with any other alternative, then….’ ‘Stop! You will not go there, Alpha Magnus,’ Yiselda growls. ‘I know Nina is your mate and Luna, but we can’t allow the humans to be wiped out in her place,’ ‘Yes, we can,’ Alec interrupts, ‘Now let me out!’ ‘Repeliate,’ Yiselda says, waving her wand at Alec. He is thrown backwards by Yiselda's magic against the cell's back wall. ‘I will not let you harm the humans,’ she says. ‘What do you suppose we do then, Yis
Alec taps his feet anxiously as Magnus, Yiselda, and the other witches approach the final door that keeps Alec imprisoned. 'Are you certain you want to proceed, Alpha Magnus? There is no going back once I remove the sigils,' 'Do it,' Magnus commands unequivocally. Yiselda brushes her palm across the door, obscuring the symbols, and trudges down the steps miserably. Magnus follows closely behind Alec as they walk through the mirror and continue out the front entrance of Pandora's box. Alec falls to his knees, touches the ground, and raises his eyes to the sky. 'I never imagined the day would come when I would be delighted to see the day,' he says. 'Doesn't the sun harm you?' Magnus asks. 'No, but we aren't fond of it either. Vampires appreciate just one type of light: moonlight. Otherwise,' Alec continues, 'We prefer to be out and about at night and inside during the day.’ Reaper pecks at the dirt near Alec's hands nonchalantly. 'Hmm, that's intriguing,' Magnus says.
Alec sends his minions to spread out on the first street they enter. The Grimghouls climb onto parked cars, rip the mirrors off and chew through the metal of the vehicles with ease as car alarms sound. Men, women and children run and scream. Then, the Shadow Reapers coalesce into a giant swirl of dark matter and flow beneath the vehicles, hurling them into the distance. Alec makes sure there are no humans in the cars before they are tossed aside. Magnus shifts into his wolf and howls. All the humans watching are terrified and film what they can with their phones before fleeing. Magnus chases after some of them, purposely running as slow as possible to allow them to escape. Police cars spread out along the street, and the officers shoot directly at the Grimghouls and Shadow Reapers while others radio for backup. A helicopter soars high above them. It’s from a News network. ‘Magnus,’ May mind-links, ‘We can see you on the television. They are filming it all live and announcing the
Kadva's eyes have an azure blue hue reminiscent of fine diamonds. His snow-white hair frames his heart-shaped face. He is a sight to behold, and he exudes exquisite beauty. He is young and appears to be around my age. Reaper swoops down and settles on my shoulder. 'Kadva, it's all over now. The wolf council is no longer alive,' I tell him. Kadva scans the strewn bodies and is taken aback to see the bodies of Alpha Bennet and Alpha Amir. Kadva laughs, but in a relieved tone, 'They're dead?' He asks. 'Yes, but why were you following their orders?' I ask. 'They were going to inform the humans about me and the location of my whereabouts if I disobeyed their commands. I didn't want to be taken hostage and subjected to their experiments,' 'That's never going to happen, Kadva, now that they're gone. Do you have any friends or family?' I ask. He shakes his head, 'No,' he says. 'I don't have anyone.' Kadva places his hands on my head and says an incantation. I can now mi
I awaken in the middle of the night and take a long shower. Magnus is sleeping soundly. I decide to venture outside to shift, allowing my wolf to run free. Reaper is asleep in the moon tree. As I ready myself to run, I feel warm sparks gliding down my spine. Alec is standing beside me, gently caressing the fur down my back as I turn my head. 'You are a lovely wolf,' he murmurs and kneels, and I rest my head on his lap while he pats me even more. 'May I join you on your run?' he inquires. I nod and dash through the trees. Alec follows. I can't believe I have my blood flame beside me. After all these years, he must feel relieved to be free of the dungeon. We sprint up the mountain and stop for a rest at the summit. I shift to my human state and lie in the grass. Alec approaches me, hovers over me, and locks his gaze with mine. Everything is perfect. My hand reaches out to brush across Alec's cheek. I draw his face closer to mine, and we kiss and make love passionately in the moonli
I take Yiselda’s hand, and Kadva takes my other hand. Then, fern, May, Lilac, Ela and Ria join the circle. Once we are connected, holding hands, Yiselda begins the chant. We repeat the words repeatedly until our eyes start to glow one by one. I can feel my energy, my magic being drained from my body. I’m feeling overwhelmingly weak. The others are also struggling to hold their footing. Finally, Reaper gives me his power, helping me to regain strength. The portal begins to open. ‘I see it, keep going, Magnus,’ yells. The witches fall to their knees but keep a firm hold of each other's hands. As the portal opens further, I see many people staring curiously at us. Some have different brightly coloured eyes, and then I noticed some are bulky with green skin and tusks. A beautiful young woman with long black hair and violet eyes approaches along with a large handsome man with brown hair. Another in armour approaches with scruffy black hair and a few scars on his face. Horses gallop by w
Nina kisses my cheek and takes a seat at the desk beside me. 'Magnus, is there anything else I can do for you?' 'Could you please hand me the Shady Crest status report?' I say as I set aside a pile of paperwork that I had just finished signing on the desk. Rolling up her sleeve, Nina waves her wand 'Lifto Levitatous', she says. The paper rises and swirls in a circular pattern, one page at a time, before settling in a neat stack in front of me. 'Nina, it was literally in front of you. You could have just reached for it, you know?' 'Well, where's the fun in that?' she gives a warm smile. 'Do you suppose you could conjure me up a mug of coffee, by any chance?' I grin. 'Magnus, you realise I'm not capable of doing that?' 'Honestly, I'm not sure what you are capable of yet. You read that spellbook each night and refuse to tell me what you've learnt.' 'Well, you have to admit that seeing me cast the spell rather than listening to me explain it is far more interesting.'