Claire vanished into ash. I was so shocked that I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t think. I heard myself gasp, but the deep sadness I had felt the first time she had died wasn’t there this time. I should have been distraught, but I wasn’t.For the first time since I found out she was alive, I realized that our relationship had never had a chance to go back to what it had once been. We hadn’t talked about it. I don’t even think I thought about how much our relationship had changed, but seeing her vanish into a swirl of ash felt surreal.I felt so little. I felt… almost relieved somehow. I heard Damian cry out in frustration.“You idiot! You–”“Claire!” Francium cried, rushing across the clearing. “Claire!”It was too late to do anything as the ashes blew away in the wind. No more than a few seconds later, Francium turned on Damian and started firing, screaming with tears streaming down his face. His eyes were full of light.“Francium, stop!” Julia called, firing at another vampire. It jerked

I didn’t remember going to sleep. I didn’t remember anything. I heard screaming and the sounds of jeeps. I heard deep sighs and I smelled Candido.Candido was nearby and that made me relax. I let my mind drift and relax. I fell into a vision of a battle. I saw Candido standing on top of the mountain. Lightning striking bubbling up and overflowing.Then, I saw Estella rushing up the side of the mountain. She cut through the forest and shifted into a large golden wolf. She was just a bit smaller than Candido. When she reached the top, their eyes took on a brilliant red glow. The moon turned red above the battlefield and the vampires dropped through the cracks as the molten silver filled the cracks. The earth moved like it was liquid, folding in on itself and devouring the vampires and the silver until it seemed completely gone.Then, the dawn started to come. The clouds pushed back and my heart felt like it was being crushed. They shifted back into their human forms. Then, Candido pulle

I wanted to call out to him, to demand a personal apology, but he started talking again.“I am sorry to have failed you all so much and in such a little time. If you choose to withdraw from this war and retire to Lunae, I will understand and hold no grudge. You have stood with me thus far, and you will always be welcome under this full moon. If I manage to reclaim the lands of Full Moon and all of the other territories, you will still be welcome. I will still and always consider you all allies, friends, family….” He paused and looked toward a group of vampires. “Welcome and honored allies and equals.”He looked up at the moon. He looked troubled and beautiful as the moonlight seemed to focus on him, bathing him in its light. I could almost see the hands of the Moong Goddess drifting over him. He closed his eyes, and the moment seemed to end. Then, he bent down and grabbed the shovel that was on the truck beside him.“For now, we bury the dead, we honor them, and we get some rest.”He

I looked over at Estella as she aimed her gun in my direction and kept firing. My heart raced as the bullets flew through me. I screamed for Candido to stop her from killing me, then the hissing of vampires behind me filled the air. They screeched, and I felt their ashes drifting over my back.I turned around to look as the ashes vanished and gritted my teeth. Again. She’d saved me again. She was just doing it to look good in front of Candido. To make her seem less like Sibyl, but I knew better.She wanted to get rid of me. She wanted to take my place as the future luna, and I wouldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t le t that happen. Candido was the only one I wanted. He was mine, and I had to make sure he knew that we were meant to be together no matter what Estella said or did. I pushed myself to stand and stumbled further into the fight, ignoring the calls for me to come back.I wasn’t going to hide behind the barrier. Candido was going to protect me. I headed through the fight until

Ian cast a thick wave of light between us and the forest as bullets started to rush toward us.In the darkness, I saw a man with glowing golden eyes. His hair was as blonde as mine was. He looked older than Ian, older than Candido, but the way he moved made him seem longer.“Maker, I—” Damian choked as Francia stabbed him through the heart, and he screeched as fire seemed to consume him from inside.From the look on Candido’s face, he hadn’t been the one to do it.“I can hold them for a bit, but you have to go now,” Ian growled. “Shiloh!”“Raven’s opened the caves for us. We’re getting them through,” he looked at me. “What the fuck are you doing here? Get going!”“I’m not leaving Candido!” I cried, turning, only to find him already hustling back toward the rest of the camp. He lifted someone off the ground onto his shoulder and shouted.“Five minutes top. Get moving!”My jaw dropped as Estella got down from the truck, taking the person from Candido and getting off the truck. I couldn’