I walk downstairs to find Theo after I finish talking to Mom. The castle is so big that I think I’m lost. I’m about to ask one of the guards if he’s seen Theo when I smell his scent in the door across from me. I walk toward the door, and I’m about to open it when I smell someone else’s scent inside. He must be in a meeting. I’ll come back later. I turn around to walk back to my room when I hear their conversation, and it pricks my interest. Werewolf hearing abilities make it hard not to hear everyone’s conversations. “We cannot afford war right now, my King. We don’t have the numbers,” the person with Theo says. “What would you have us do? Surrender to the vampire king?” “Of course not.” “Then what the hell are you saying, Jeremy?” Theo yells and I hear a bang on the table. “There are other ways. We can offer a peace treaty. Maybe talk to him and find out why he’s suddenly killing our kind. If he wants something from us, and we have it, we should give it to him. It would spare a

Mom comes back in a record of time with a lot of hospital supplies. I quickly take them from her and begin to work on saving Mason's life. Mom helps me wear the gloves. I take a huge chunk of cotton wool and dip it in hydrogen peroxide. I use it to clean his wounds. Everywhere I touch on his skin with the cotton wool, he winces in pain. He has a lot of cuts on his chest. Who did this to him? I don't know how many times I mutter ‘sorry’ to him, but by the time I’m done, I’m saying it like a mantra. I used the bandages Mom bought and covered his wounds. He'd need stitches, but I’m not a doctor, so I can't sew his wounds. I don't know how to, and I couldn't even if I was told how to. I would feel like I’m hurting him more than helping him by passing a needle through his skin. Bandages are what we will use to stop his bleeding for now. Once I’m done with his upper body, I remove his pants to see if he has any injuries. His knee seems to have popped out. I close my eyes and pop it back in

I open my eyes to a dark, smelly place. I look around to try and see if I recognize where I am, but I don't. I try to change my eyes to my werewolf eyes, but I can't. I try to contact Eva, but I can't either. Where the hell am I? I stand up from the cold ground and try to feel around the room to guess where I’m. I groan a little as my muscles hurt when I move them. I think I was on the floor for a while. I put my hands in the air and try to feel anything around me. I move toward my right and my hands come in contact with the wall. I lean toward the wall and continue to walk around the place. I quickly remove my hand from the bars when I touch them. They’re made out of silver. They burn me the moment I felt them. I must be in a vampire or human hunter’s prison. I don’t know which one to wish for. I’m turning back to where I think I woke up from when the lights suddenly come on in the room. I shield my eyes as I try to adjust to the light. “Hello, beautiful, we finally meet,” a voice b

ANASTASIA I don't know how many days have gone by since I got here. It’s always dark, so I can't tell when it's day or night. I hear footsteps approaching me. I’m sure it's Mason bringing food. He brings food twice every day like clockwork. I haven't forgiven him for what he did. I don't talk to him when he tries to make conversation. I just take my food from him and go back deeper into my cell to eat it. I expect to see Mason walking toward my door; instead, I see women. They’re three of them. The one in front opens my cell door, and they all walk inside. The two behind grab my hands and make me kneel. They spread my hands wide as the one who opened my cell walks toward me with a needle in her hand. I can't see clearly, but I’m sure it's silver inside the syringe. I struggle to free my hands from the two women holding me, but I’m unable to. The leader finds a vein in my left hand and wastes no time injecting me. I scream in pain as the silver enters my bloodstream. The fastest way

“Nickolas!” I shout as he is about to step out. He turns and faces me. “Let’s get this done with,” I say, running toward him, but I see something in my peripheral vision that makes me halt. That’s not good. Ekaterina creates a portal, but before she can pass through it with Anastasia, someone closes it and makes it disappear. Ekaterina has told me only one witch in the world could close another witch’s portal. The witch Queen. “Hello, dear, it’s been a while since I last saw you,” the evil witch says to Ekaterina with a smirk on her face. Ava must’ve told her sister, Rebecca, Ekaterina was here. Witches can send messages to each other by using spells. I want to keep my promise and help Ekaterina, but right now isn’t the time. Nickolas is getting away. I will help her once I’m done with him. I continue to run toward Nickolas. Grabbing him by the collar, I spin him around. I punch him square in the face, but Nickolas quickly heals from it. I hit him two more times in the ribs, but