In a world ravaged by fear and violence, humanity wages a merciless war against supernatural beings. Gabriel, a brooding warlock haunted by the loss of his family, embraces a life devoid of love while honing his magical skills and evading the inquisitors. His only companion is his loyal friend, Nick. Aria, a beautiful witch unaware of her own powers, is forced to flee her destroyed village and seeks help in the city. Her path intertwines with Gabriel's, but who are they to each other? As their kind faces imminent destruction, they have to find each other in time to save themselves and their future. Their journey will test their strength and reveal the power of love amidst chaos.
Lihat lebih banyakGabriel’s POV
The smell of burnt flesh was the only thing in the air these days. It was making me sick. The only thing that helped was this cheap wine I was drinking. I was halfway through my second bottle when Louis walked in carrying a box full of liquor.
“They burned another one today. Man, you would think we would have left witch-hunting in the Middle Ages,” he said, putting the box down. He looked at me frowning. “How many of those are you going to drink today?” he asked pointing at my now almost empty bottle.
I looked at him and pulled my wallet out. “Until I give you all my money.”
“You know I shouldn’t even be serving you. There is a rumor about you.”
I was lucky he didn’t believe in witches and warlocks. Or any supernatural being for that matter. Because the rumors were true. I am a warlock.
“What rumor?” I asked, knowing damn well what he was going to say.
He coughed and pulled a towel to wipe some glasses that were drying on the bar.
“You know… They say you are a…,” he was nervous and didn’t even look at me.
“I’m a what, Louis?”
“Warlock,” he said, lowering his voice.
If I wasn’t one, I wouldn’t even have heard him.
“Well, if that was true, I would be on one of those poles in the middle of the main square by now,” I said, drinking the last of my wine. “Give me another bottle, would you?”
He frowned and went to the back room.
I looked around. There weren’t many people in the bar. They were all afraid to be out at this time of the night. When the new inquisition started a lot of people ran from the cities and were in hiding. Inquisitors condemned people without proper investigation. Just like the first time. A lot of humans died. A lot of werewolves and vampires died as well. Some were my friends, some were my enemies. But I would never wish such death on anyone. Despite my reputation, I wasn’t that cruel. They didn’t only burn them. They were torturing them, killing their loved ones in front of them, and starving them. When you were captured by them it didn’t mean instant death. It meant suffering for months. I think that was even more terrifying than just simply dying. By the end, most of them were probably happy to be on that pole. It meant the end of suffering.
“You drank my stash,” Louis said, coming back from the back room. “I had to dig pretty deep to find this one,” he said and put the bottle in front of me.
“Well, I'll pay you to have them, Lou.”
I got my wallet and handed him the money.
“Maybe you should drink this at home, Gabriel,” Louis said, looking at the clock. “It’s getting pretty late, and if I don’t close soon those witch hunters will be all up in my ass.”
“Sounds even better. It smells like crap here, you know,” I laughed.
I liked Louis. He was an old man. A human. He had gray hair that went down past his shoulders, dark eyes, and a wrinkled face. He didn’t have a wife or a child. He had this bar. And even though it was a dump where only drunks and shady people came in, he loved it. He once said to me that his bar couldn’t leave him as Carol had. He refused to talk about her, and I didn’t insist. Even though a lot of his clients were supernatural beings, he wasn’t aware. Or maybe he was. I was not interested in finding out. He and my neighbor Nick were the only ones I would remotely describe as my friends. Louis’s crappy, dark bar was more of a home to me than my own house. Ever since they killed the woman who raised me. Now it’s just an empty space that reminds me of her, my guilt, and the possibility of me being tied up to that pole.
I started getting up, but I felt dizzy. This red mush he called wine was getting to me. I liked it. It was far better than being pissed off all the time.
“Damn Lou, I like your wine.”
I was at the door when Louis called out to me.
“Gabe.”
“Yeah, Lou?”
“Get a haircut. You look more like a werewolf than the thing they say you are.”
I laughed. Fortunately, the bar was now empty. If not, I would have to kill him and everybody who heard that. I wasn’t planning on killing my friend today.
I got out and started walking to my so-called home.
Aria’s POV
My Dear,
If you are reading this, it means they have caught me. I am so sorry. I never wanted you to be alone. I spent 20 years of my life taking care of you. You are my sunshine. If I could, I would be with you forever. But these are dark times my Aria. Soul-wrenching dark. I am somewhat glad I don’t have to live anymore. To see all the suffering of our kind. But I would like to be with you through everything that is going to happen. Even though I know how strong you are, I wish I was by your side. To comfort you. To hold you like I did all those times through your childhood. You are the key to stopping this, Aria. I need you to find someone. Her name is Claudia Richardson. She lives somewhere in Moon City. She has a prophecy. You need to find her and let her know you are alive. I wish I could tell you more. I wish I could help you. I can only leave you knowing how strong and smart you are. Knowing you will make the pain go away.
I will always be watching you and taking care of you from afar.
Love, Grandma.
I couldn’t cry anymore. I’ve read her letter over and over. Each time I understood less. Who was Claudia? What prophecy? How could I stop the war between our kind and humans? I was nobody. A little witch who lived in a small village with her grandma. I wasn’t important or powerful. I didn’t have any special skills. I was not gifted with any unique magical powers like some witches and warlocks. It just didn’t make any sense. I decided to get off the dirty floor and try not to think about this anymore. It was the only thing I could do until I got to Moon City.
My heart hurt. I just lost the only person who loved me, raised me, and took care of me. She was the only family I had. My parents died in a car accident when I was just a baby. My Grandpa Jack was also in the car. I had no memory of them. She didn’t talk about them much. It was too painful. I lost a mother and a father, and she lost a daughter and a husband. My grandparents from my dad’s side died when he was a child. My parents didn’t have siblings. I am alone in this world. My Grandma Grace was everything to me. My parents, my teacher, my family.
I looked around the room. It used to be mine. Now there was nothing left. I sighed and walked to the living room. I took my bag and started packing a few things that survived the fire. My grandma was prepared. When the inquisition started, about a year ago, she sat me down and told me her plan. She removed some floorboards in our small living room and made a little safe where she put some important stuff in case anything happened. There was a picture of my parents, money, my documents, a picture of us when I was a baby and some spare clothes. There was also a locket that I couldn’t open but she said that when the time comes somebody will open it for me. I was confused but she said not to ask any questions. She must have added the letter after because I never saw it before this day. I placed the locket around my neck and packed the rest of the stuff from our little safe in my bag. I hoped I would have enough money to at least find Claudia.
My grandma and I earned our money by healing our fellow villagers. Maybe I could do that in the city. Earn some money. Try to rebuild my life. I wasn’t as good a healer as my grandma, but I was a quick learner. I could do this. I must. My grandma was an excellent healer and I learned everything I know from her. We even had our little garden where we grew our herbs. But that was gone too. I felt tears starting to accumulate in my eyes. I quickly wiped them and focused on packing the rest of my stuff. I couldn’t let myself cry anymore. I had to get out of here before they came back.
I tried to clean my dirty clothes. I was covered in ashes from the fire. My brown hair that fell down to my waist was now gray. My green eyes were now probably red from crying. I gave up, there was too much ash on me. I would have to clean myself in a nearby stream that provided our village with fresh, clean water. I walked out of my home holding a sob in my throat.
I was near the forest line when I turned around and looked at my village. There was nothing left. They burned it to the ground. I wasn’t sure if anyone survived. My heart clenched painfully in my chest.
This morning I had left to go to the market like any other day. My grandma and I used to go together but today she decided to stay at home and make her famous “limb growth potion”. Her potion saved a couple of village kids a few years back when they were playing around with spells and lost some fingers and toes. It was a lot of work and she told me to go by myself. I was gone for about an hour and when I came back inquisitors had already destroyed everything and left. I checked every house and every building hoping some of my fellow villagers survived. There was nobody. I was alone.
I glanced at my home one last time and turned towards the forest before I started crying again. I couldn’t let myself cry now.
Moon City was an hour away by car. It was going to take me a lot longer on foot. I could use a spell to transport myself there, but I was too scared to try. I couldn’t risk appearing somewhere I could be seen. Walking it is. It was 11 am and I was hoping I would arrive before dark.
The first thing on my to-do list was to find my childhood friend Annie. She was a werewolf. I really hoped they hadn’t caught her. She used to live here with her parents, but they moved to the city a few years back. We stayed in touch after they left, but I hadn’t heard from her in a while. She had probably changed her phone number. She told me a little about the place where she lived. She was an artist and a gifted one at that. When she described something, you felt like you could see it clearly in front of you. I could probably find her just by her description of her new home. At least I hoped I could. I had to be very careful though. I could’t get caught.
Gabriel’s POV“Aria!” I yelled.Where the hell is, she? We are going to be late.I heard footsteps coming into the kitchen. Aria walked in wearing a dress and white sneakers. Her hair was up in a ponytail, and she had a little makeup on.“Why are you in such a hurry?” she asked. “Nick is not even here yet.”“I promised Zack we would come a little earlier so I could help him hang the sign,” I explained.“We will be there on time,” she smiled. “Don’t worry.”There was a knock on the door, and Nick walked inside. His eyes immediately went to Aria, and he gave her a small smile. That guy was totally whipped.“Are you ready?” he asked us, reaching his hand to Aria.“Yes,” she smiled and took his hand in hers.We walked outside, and I locked the front door. We got into my car and started driving to Jake and Cassie’s house.We didn’t really need to drive there, considering it was only a five-minute walk, but the sign was too big to carry, so I had to put it in my car.“Does Cassie know anyth
Gabriel’s POVI woke up in my bed and sighed constantly. It was December 12th, and it was our birthday. I smiled and opened my eyes.It was the first of many birthdays my sister and I will share.I wished this wasn’t the first one. I wished we had shared our birthdays since the first one, like we were supposed to do.But I can’t change the past. I can only be thankful that I have her here with me now. And I didn’t intend to let her go ever again.I was thankful I waited that long for a haircut.I was thankful I slept in that day and had to go to the salon later.I was thankful I opened the door just in time for her to run into me.I was thankful that she bumped into me that day.I was thankful that Nick managed to convince me to go to one more hotel.I was thankful that Mrs. Black was out that day working in the garden. I was thankful she approached Aria, talked to her, and told me about it.I was thankful for each and every decision that led me to my sister.I got out of bed and look
Gabriel’s POVIt’s been a few days since the battle.Patricia, Mike, and Jack went to Victor’s headquarters to end the inquisition. They should come back in a few days. Mike had been keeping me updated. Patricia didn’t try to take Victor’s position. For now. They were shutting his whole operation down. It wasn’t going as smoothly as we had hoped it would, but they were making progress. They were having trouble with some of Victor’s most loyal followers. They didn’t believe he was dead, and they wanted to continue with the inquisition.I trusted that Mike, Jack, and Patricia would be able to deal with them.The rest of us were packing to go home tomorrow. We stayed so Aria could take care of Zack. And she did an amazing job. Zack was up on his feet, and he was doing well. He got tired easily and he still spends most of his time in bed, but his wound healed miraculously well, and his fever was completely gone.Things around here were a little bit tense.There was something going on betw
Gabriel’s POV“What happens now?” Annie asked while we were eating.I raised my head to look at her. “Now we go home.”I took Aria’s hand in mine. We will finally be at peace. We will finally be able to live like a normal family.“It seems surreal,” Aria mumbled, looking down at her plate.“What does?” I asked her.She put down her fork and looked up at me. “Everything. Are we sure that this is over? It sounds too good to be true. What about the prophecy? What about his threat?”“He is dead, baby,” Nick spoke before I could. “He is gone forever and this whole story is over. Not all prophecies come true.”She sighed and looked back down at her plate. “I guess.”I placed my hand on her back and rubbed small circles soothingly. “Don’t worry, love. It is over.”She looked up at me and gave me a small smile. She didn’t look convinced. I sighed internally. I would make sure she felt safe. I would make sure she believed that this was over.Because it was.It had to be.Nick watched him burn
Nick’s POVI watched Gabriel walking away with my mate in his arms.My heart clenched painfully.I wanted to go with her. I needed to go with her. She was hurt and I was supposed to be with her.But I couldn’t.I had to make sure the fucker was dead. I had to stay behind and watch his body turn to ash.What he said about the prophecy not being fulfilled made my stomach twist. I had to make sure that he was gone.I watched my mate until I couldn’t see her anymore.I sighed and turned back around. Mike was standing next to me, his arms crossed over his chest, glaring at the fire. Patricia was on the other side. Her eyes were filled with tears.I glanced around the field. Someone was missing.Petra.Fuck.She took Cora’s power. She has so much dark magic right now. She could be dangerous.My eyes darted around the field. I couldn’t find her anywhere.We were so focused on Victor, that we completely forgot about her.“Where the fuck is Petra?” I growled.“Gone,” Patricia mumbled.I looked
Gabriel’s POVThe way he looked at Aria made me furious. I will kill the fucker and dance around his dead fucking body.I gathered my magic and I blasted it toward Victor.He was fast. He pulled up a shield and his eyes snapped toward me.“YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT!” he screamed. “I CAN’T WAIT TO TAKE AWAY YOUR MAGIC AND KILL YOU!”I smirked and fired up my magic again. Victor expected it and sent a blast my way. Aria put up a shield in front of us.At this point, everybody started fighting. Annie and Mike ran toward Petra to help her with Cora. Nick, Jake, Aria, and I focused on Victor.He was strong, stronger than I thought he would be. I glanced over at Aria and gave her a little nod. She was panting hard, trying to hold up her shield.I focused on projecting an image of a cliff toward Victor. Aria focused on projecting pain. As soon as our spells hit him, he staggered back. His magic lost its intensity and his attack stopped.I was relieved. I took a deep breath and focused on keep
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