BLOOD AND MOONLIGHT

The snow was painted in streaks of red.

Three witches were dragged through it in chains.

I was the third.

My legs shook as I walked. The chains around my wrists were cold against my skin, but the cold was nothing compared to the fear sitting inside my chest.

I looked at the two witches in front of me.

The first one was already crying.

The second one kept whispering something I couldn't hear.

Then a man stepped forward.

Lucien Valois.

I had heard his name before.

Everyone had.

He was the Vampire King.

He held a sword in his hand, and his bloodshot eyes were fixed on us.

There was nothing warm in them.

Only hate.

One hundred years of hate.

“Witches are to be killed on sight. No trial,” the elder behind him read the decree.

My heart dropped.

The first witch fell to her knees.

“Please!”

Lucien raised his sword.

The blade came down.

Her body dropped onto the white snow.

I stopped breathing.

No emotion showed on his face.

The second witch screamed when they dragged her forward.

I looked away.

I couldn't watch.

Then I heard the sword cut through the air.

Her scream stopped.

Silence followed.

My legs almost gave out.

I was next.

I was Emily Grey.

Twenty-one years old.

A witch who had spent her life hiding among humans.

I wasn't fighting the chains.

I wasn't even trying to run.

My body simply wouldn't stop shaking.

Lucien stepped toward me.

I took a small step back.

The chains pulled against my wrists.

He raised his sword.

The blade stopped against my throat.

“Witch.”

His voice rang in my ears, cold as ice.

I looked up at him.

His red eyes met my grey ones.

For one second, neither of us moved.

Then my birthmark burned beneath my sleeve.

I gasped.

The pain was sudden.

Hot.

Almost like something was burning underneath my skin.

Lucien's expression changed.

His sword shook slightly.

Why?

I didn't understand.

He stared at me like he had seen something he wasn't supposed to see.

His second in command walked toward him.

“My King? The law?”

Lucien didn't answer.

His breathing had changed.

His eyes remained on me.

I swallowed hard.

“Please…” My voice barely came out. “I'm not…”

I didn't even know what I was trying to say.

I'm not a monster.

I'm not evil.

I'm not ready to die.

The words stayed trapped inside me.

Then the voices started.

Emily.

I froze.

Another voice screamed inside my head.

The barrier is cracking.

My head started hurting.

I clutched it.

Images flashed before my eyes.

A woman with long white hair.

She was laughing.

Her eyes were fixed on me.

“Destiny child.”

I gasped and fell to my knees.

“Stop!”

I didn't know if I said it out loud.

The woman disappeared.

But the voices remained.

My head spun.

Then strong arms caught me before I hit the ground.

Lucien.

His hand touched my skin.

We both gasped.

Something strange passed through my body.

His hand pulled away slightly.

I looked at him.

A strange mark was beginning to appear on his neck.

The people around us went silent.

Someone from the crowd whispered.

“Impossible.”

Another voice followed.

“A witch can't be—”

The person never finished.

Alarm bells suddenly rang across the territory.

More witches.

Something was happening.

Lucien's face hardened.

He looked at the guards.

“Bind her.”

My heart dropped.

I barely had time to react before the guards grabbed me.

I was dragged away.

---

The dungeon was freezing.

My wrists were chained to the wall.

I pulled my knees toward my chest and tried to breathe.

One breath.

Then another.

I counted them like I always did whenever the nightmares came.

One.

Two.

Three.

The voices were still there.

The barrier is cracking.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

“Please stop.”

The cell door suddenly shook.

Then it was yanked open.

I looked up.

A huge wolf stepped inside.

Its golden eyes stared directly at me.

I froze.

The wolf shifted.

A man stood where it had been.

Kiran Moonwhisper.

The Alpha King.

I had heard of him too.

He looked around the dungeon.

“Where is she?” he demanded.

A guard bowed.

“The vampire has her, Alpha.”

Kiran's head suddenly turned.

He sniffed the air.

His eyes widened.

He looked directly at me.

My heart started beating faster.

He stepped closer.

Then stopped.

“You smell like death and destiny,” he said.

I pressed myself against the wall.

“Who are you?”

“The man who's supposed to kill you.”

My stomach dropped.

Then his hand slowly reached toward my face.

I flinched.

He stopped.

A mark began forming on his wrist.

I stared at it.

It was the same strange mark I had seen on Lucien.

Kiran stared at it too.

His expression changed.

“Two Alphas. One witch.”

He looked at me.

“Fate is something else.”

Footsteps suddenly echoed behind him.

Kiran turned.

Lucien appeared in the doorway.

His eyes immediately went to Kiran's hand near my face.

Something changed in his expression.

The air suddenly felt heavier.

“Get away from my mate,” Lucien growled.

My heart stopped.

Mate?

Kiran laughed bitterly.

“Your mate?”

He looked at Lucien.

“She’s mine too.”

I stared at both of them.

Neither man looked like he was joking.

The lights above us began flickering.

The guards stepped backward.

I could feel something in the air.

Something dangerous.

“Run.”

I froze.

The voice in my head was clearer this time.

Run.

But where could I go?

I was chained.

I had nowhere to run.

“The council will decide,” Lucien said.

“You know the council will execute her,” Kiran replied.

I looked between them.

They were both powerful.

Both kings.

And both were looking at me like I belonged to them.

Yet only a few minutes ago, I had been standing beneath a sword, waiting to die.

My birthmark suddenly burned again.

Hotter this time.

I gasped.

Something moved behind me.

I turned.

For one second, a portal flickered in the air.

A dark opening.

Then it disappeared.

My heart pounded.

No one else reacted.

They hadn't seen it.

I looked at my hands.

Then at Lucien.

His eyes widened.

“What are you?”

I didn't know.

I had no answer.

Before I could speak, the dungeon doors burst open.

Several guards rushed inside.

One of them dropped to his knees.

“My King!”

He was breathing heavily.

“The Vampire Council demands the witch's head NOW!”

The words echoed through the dungeon.

My blood turned cold.

I looked at Lucien.

Then Kiran.

Two kings had just claimed me.

And the Vampire Council wanted me dead.