Chapter 3: the girl his father wanted dead

For several seconds, I couldn't move. Kieran's words kept repeating inside my head.

My father believed you would be the death of me.

Then came the other revelation. He was talking about the night I was ordered to kill you.

I looked down at the silver pendant resting in my palm. My mother's necklace. The exact same necklace I had searched for every day after she disappeared.

How had it ended up with Kieran? Why had his father given it to him? And why on earth had he been ordered to kill me?

“Explain yourself,” I demanded.

Kieran stood near the bedroom door, his expression entirely unreadable. “Your father and mine were involved in something dangerous. Whatever happened between them eventually involved your family.”

“That's not an explanation.”

“It's the only one I can give you right now.”

I laughed, a harsh, bitter sound. “Of course. Another man who knows everything but expects me to accept half-truths.”

Darius moved closer, his voice low. “Aria, you need to rest.”

I turned sharply toward him. “Stop telling me what I need! You knew Kieran's family was connected to our parents, didn't you?”

His silence was answer enough.

“How long have you known?”

“Since we arrived at Blackthorn.”

My mouth fell open. “You knew before we even came here?”

Darius rubbed his forehead, looking suddenly exhausted. “I didn't know the entire truth. I only knew there was something hidden beneath this academy, and I believed I could keep you away from it.”

“By bringing me here?”

“I had no choice.”

“There is always a choice, Darius!”

My voice cracked. I hated that it did. I had spent years believing my brother was the one person in the world who would never lie to me. He was the one who had raised me after our parents vanished, standing between me and every danger, making sure I never felt alone in the dark.

Now, I was beginning to wonder how much of my life had been built on things he refused to tell me.

Darius reached for my shoulder.

I stepped away. “Please don't.”

His hand dropped.

Kieran watched us without interfering. For once, I was almost grateful he wasn't making another arrogant comment. I turned my gaze back to him. “Give me the necklace.”

He glanced down at the pendant in my palm. “It's yours.”

“Then why did you keep it?”

“Because my father told me to.”

“And you obeyed?”

His eyes hardened slightly. “I was younger when he gave it to me. I didn't know what it meant.”

“When did he give it to you?”

“Three days before he disappeared.”

I stared at him. “Your father disappeared?”

Kieran nodded stiffly. “Everyone believes the Nightshade family was responsible. I spent years believing the same thing.”

Darius stepped forward, his eyes narrowing. “Your father knew what he was doing.”

Kieran's gaze snapped toward him. “Be careful.”

“Or what? You'll threaten me in front of my sister?”

“I don't need to threaten you.”

The temperature in the room seemed to drop. Their wolves were close to the surface again, a dangerous, primal tension crackling in the air.

I was too exhausted for this. “Both of you, stop!”

Neither moved an inch.

I walked right between them, holding the pendant tightly in my fist. “If you want to fight, take it outside. I'm not interested in watching two grown men behave like territorial animals.”

Kieran's lips twitched, a shadow of amusement crossing his face. Darius just looked ready to argue.

I pointed a finger toward the door. “Out.”

For a terrifying moment, I thought neither of them would listen. Then, slowly, Kieran stepped back. “Rest, Aria. We have a lot to discuss.”

“I'll decide when we discuss anything.”

He gave me one long, searching look before leaving. Darius, however, remained rooted to the spot.

I turned back to him. “I'm serious.”

His shoulders fell. “I know.”

“Then leave.”

He hesitated, but eventually followed Kieran out into the corridor.

The door clicked shut.

I was alone. Or at least, I thought I was.

I sat on the edge of the bed and examined the pendant.

It was heavy silver, shaped like a crescent moon, with three tiny lines engraved beneath it. The chain was old and tarnished, but the pendant itself looked strangely untouched by time.

I turned it over.

There was something written on the back, a sentence so small and fine I almost missed it:

When the two moons bleed, seek the place where the first light died.

read it twice. It sounded like a riddle, a warning, or perhaps a clue left behind in the dark.

I rubbed my thumb over the inscription.

Immediately, a sharp pain shot through my wrist.

I gasped, dropping my hand. Beneath my skin, the silver mark began to glow with a faint, pulsing light. The pendant grew warm in my palm, and a strange, disorienting sensation spread through my entire body. My vision blurred at the edges.

Then, the bedroom simply disappeared.

I was standing somewhere else.

A dark, oppressive forest stretched out before me. Tall, ancient trees surrounded a narrow path, their branches twisting together beneath a starless sky. Near a crumbling stone altar in a clearing stood a woman.

My mother. I recognized her instantly.

Her dark hair fell loose over her shoulders, and she wore this exact silver pendant around her neck. Her face looked younger than I remembered, but the raw terror in her eyes was unmistakable.

“Aria,” she whispered into the wind.

I tried to step forward, to reach her. “Mum?”

She looked frantically over her shoulder, as if someone or something was hunting her. “You must never let them complete the bond.”

My heart began racing wildly against my ribs. “What bond?”

She pressed both trembling hands against the stone altar. “If he claims you before you awaken, the darkness will enter him.”

A man's voice echoed smoothly from the shadows behind her. “You cannot keep running, Seraphina.”

My mother whipped around.

A tall figure emerged from the trees. I couldn't clearly see his face, but I recognized his voice instantly.

Lucien Ravencroft. Kieran's father.

My mother stepped away from the altar, her stance defensive. “You promised to protect her.”

“I did.”

“Then why are you hunting her?”

“Because she is the only one who can stop what is coming.”

My mother shook her head fiercely. “No. She is just a child.”

“And the First Moon does not care about age.”