I swooned and the phone tumbled from my hand as I fell aside. Francium cursed again, swerving the car and bouncing us along as more shots were fired at the car. He zipped and zagged, sliding us around in the back seat as he tried to avoid the bullets.“Hold on!” Francium yelled, turning off the road.“What are you doing?” I asked, trying to hold on to the handle as he turned again.“Taking a short cut. It’s harder to shoot through the trees.”The wound burned like fire. I smelled it burning like silver. I felt it creeping through my shoulder. I looked at the wound and saw it starting to turn black. My stomach churned. Was I going to lose my arm because of that bullet?Was I going to lose my life in this chase?“Fucking silver bullets. They really want to kill us,” Francium cursed. “I don’t know what the hell Damian wants with you Hedy, but he wants it bad… Are you really, Pandora?”I didn’t answer and hoped that Armageddon hadn’t heard him. Instead, I fumbled with my safety beacon. I
There was nothing but pain for a long time. Pain and silence. My lungs were burning. I couldn’t move. Would Candido find me? Would Moon Shadow return my body to him? Would he bury me with care? Would he cry?I didn’t know.“Hedy!” I heard Claire cry. I tried to breath and felt the air and water gurgling in my chest. I choked and coughed, trying to expel it. I cried out in pain. My leg was thrumming with pain. I could keep my head above the water. I flailed and struggled. Metal creaked sharply then hands were on me, dragging me up and out. Pain dragged across my back and down my side as I coughed and sputtered.“She’s still breathing.”“Quick, get her onto the land. Can we use any of the supplies?”“I don’t think so. It’s all soaked.”“Fuck!”“Just give it to me.”I hear something rip, then something was wrapped around my shoulder and waist tightly. I opened my eyes seeing Claire and Francium looking at each other.“I’ve got this, see if you can pull anything out of the car.” Francium
When she was gone, I looked back at Candido, whose jaw was set in a firm line. He looked upset, but not angry.At least, I hoped he wasn’t that angry.“I’m sorry,” I said softly. “I shouldn’t have…. There’s so much that I—"“You endangered your life just to make me jealous,” Candido said. “Do you know what would have happened to me if you had died?”My lips twitched. I felt warm hearing him say that. His voice was tight with emotion like he was trying to hold himself back from crying. Maybe he really did care about me as much as I had hoped, even before then. Maybe without the whole mate thing, it wouldn’t have been so hard to get him to admit it, and all of this could have been avoided.“I know that now…”“When the car was crashing… when you called my name,” his voice trembled and wavered. “Have you any idea how terrified I was when I realized you were in so much danger and I wasn’t close enough to save you? Do you know?”I winced and nodded. “I understand. I’m sorry, Candido.”He li
“It’s so good to meet you formally,” she said, pulling her mask and hood down.She looked just like the woman who had been in that photo, Candida, except her eyes were a dark brown. They were probably twins, but I didn’t ask.Did that mean that twins ran in Candido’s family? My face heated at the thought of a pair of twins in my arms with his eyes and my hair. Would they be gold wolves too? I didn’t know, but the thought warmed me.Vanessa smiled and wrapped her arms around me. “Candida would have loved you.”She pulled back and cupped my face. “She’d have stuffed you full and probably ripped your father a new one, too, but she would have loved you.”I almost laughed at the thought because it would be exactly what he deserved. It was comforting to think that Candido’s mother would have liked me. I didn’t know much about her, but she sounded like quite the character.“If I can entrust you with one more mission?” Vanessa said with a wry smile and a glance at Candido. “Do not let ‘Dido g
His expression turned tender before wrapped his arm around my shoulders.“Okay, let’s get you back to bed,” he said, pressing a kiss to my temple.Vanessa let out a little laugh as Candido walked with me back to the room I’d been given.As soon as the door closed behind us, Candido dug into his jacket and pulled out a small knife. I stopped him before he could slit his palm. I pulled the knife from his hand and tucked it back into his jacket.“No.”He stiffened his jaw. “Hedy, I know what my aunt said, but you have to know that I—”“Usually listen to absolutely no one,” I said.“I am perfectly fine.” His voice was firm, but his eyes were red-rimmed and sunken into his face. There were dark circles around his eyes, and he looked ready to fall asleep at any time.“All I want right now is to snuggle with you.” I looked up at him. “Can’t you just give me this? It’s less painful.”His nostrils flared. “That’s not a good idea.”“Why?”“Because I want you desperately.” He said. “And you’re n
Candido looked toward the door. “I’ll be there soon.”I heard whoever it was walking away from the door then he turned to the cabinet to pull out clothes.“What about me?”“You should get some more rest,” Candido said as he tossed clothes onto the bed for himself. “You’re still a bit too injured to be doing much of anything.”I grit my teeth. “You’re doing it again. You… You can’t push me out of this or protect me from it. We’re in this together. I’m going, and your aunt said you need more rest!”He licked his lips and turned his head. His eyes flickered with light as they dragged over me.“You… are a distraction,” Candido said, his voice low and rough, more of a rumble than anything. “Right now, I can’t afford distractions. Stay here, Hedy, and get some rest.”I set my jaw. “I’m going, Candido.”He sighed and turned around. “Why do you feel the need to?”“Were you listening to anything I said? I…” My shoulders slumped, so tired of explaining this. “I want to be by your side. I want t
We followed the guard to the observation room, where people were hustling around and murmuring.“Give me an update.”“The scans are picking up presences. A lot of them, but we can’t get a hold of how many.”The readings kept changing, ranging from no one to over a hundred people, but the screens that showed the camera views were all blank. There was no way to tell how many were there through the cameras, but maybe that was just because of how injured I was.Francium tilted his head at an almost unnatural angle. “There’s something off about… the view.”I frowned and thought back to when he spoke about having some sort of immunity. Was this a vampire’s illusion? Could it affect scans too? I worried my lip. If it was all technology built to read werewolf presence, maybe built from the knowledge that was in the old books, then maybe, just maybe, a vampire’s power could mess with the scanning.“Let me… go out and see,” Francium said. “It’s easier to see with my own eyes than through a came
It was a bit funny, the way Francia sneered at Candido and how offended he looked. I didn’t think there were very many people who would chance getting on his bad side, but Francia didn’t seem to care. To be fair, I got the sense that Francia was far older than anyone else in the room. I bet we all looked pretty childish to her no matter how mature we might be.Still, I would never want to be on the other side of Candido’s glare. I looked up at him as his expression turned angry. He bared his teeth at her and his eyes flashed.“You don’t know—”“He can be,” Vanessa said, cutting in. Candido’s mouth clicked shut. His nostrils flared like he wanted to speak, but he was holding back. It was kind of amazing that someone could make him be quiet like that. “As his father and so many other men in the family have been, but what he lacks in maturity, he makes up in fortitude and a good heart.”Candido’s eye twitched as he looked at Vanessa, but he said nothing.Francia’s lips twitched into a wr