Blakely After spending most of the day tangled up in my mates, I was more motivated than ever to return to our realm and end things once and for all. Did we have a concrete plan? No, but we’d gotten this far without one. Maybe we were blessed. Maybe it was Lunette using what crumbs of magic remained to aid us. Maybe we were just riding out a good-luck streak that was bound to end. All I knew was that I wanted this. I wanted the three of them more than I’d ever wanted anything, and I knew what it was to want. My entire life all I’d wanted was to live, to grow, to experience things without the curse looming over my head. My mates were just that. They were life. They were adventure. So, after a hot bath to ease the soreness between my legs, we set back to work. As before, most of it was fruitless. There were too many legends to sort through what might have once been real. “We can’t waste anymore time here.” I said, albeit reluctantly. “Not with the phoenix tailing my family, and

Blakely “Enough.” Orion snarled in my ear, pinning me tight to his chest. “I’ve got you, poison. Stop fighting me.” The sound of his voice washed away the fear. I melted against him, my heart slamming in my chest so hard I knew he could feel it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one who heard Orion’s voice. The prisoner’s started up again, whipped into a sort of frenzy. “God spawn…” One snarled, it’s voice crackling like blood lodged in a windpipe. Another tittered, it’s laugh reminding me of the sounds an animal might make as it died. “Mage God, Mage God…” It sang. We pushed forward, fighting past the screams and whispers of truths most terrible. Even as the sound faded in the distance, the unease remained. Time turned to liquid, then a solid, then a liquid again the further we delved into the mountain. It was impossible to judge how long we’d been traveling. Eventually, we heard something. It wasn’t the hiss or whisper of prisoner’s deep within the earth. It was a strange s

Blakely “I’m with Orion on this one,” I said, “We need to know the last verse of the prophecy. Now that we’re all one big, mated family it should be complete.” Draco grimaced, his pale eyes flicking towards the ocean. It’s waves lapped at the rocky shore slowly, lazily. “Solana will be looking for you—for all of us. We have to assume she now knows your bloodline holds Lunette’s magic. She is going to want to take it from you by any means necessary.” “I for one am not afraid of Solana.” Azrael snorted, his easygoing demeanor melting into something troublesome and unhinged. “She betrayed us. She betrayed Lunette. I’m actually looking forward to running into her again.” The thought of any of them facing off against Solana had my stomach twisting into knots. Slightly nauseous, I leaned against Orion and shook my head. “The monster—creature—thing back there said you three wouldn’t win against her. It said you’re not her equals, but Lunette is. We need to find her now more than ever. If

Blakely At first there was darkness. The darkness of night, of unending pain, of loss so sharp and bitter that it left my soul in tatters. At first there was darkness, and then—then there was light. A tide of silver pushed and pulled within my veins, controlled by a force so much greater than myself. I drowned in a sea of it, swallowed by the moon’s unfathomable power. Unable to hold my breath any longer, I sucked it into my lungs. Hot and cold, soft and harsh, it invaded my body in a torrent. I could feel it rushing through me, delving into muscle and bone. I could feel it changing me. Changing me into what though? In the dark a voice called out. One that gleaned no hint of recognition, and yet I knew it as well as I knew my own. Sister, daughter, ancestor, and friend… Her voice was a melody I’d heard a thousand times. The voice that sang within my dreams, that whispered in my veins, that curled around me in the darkest of nights when I had only the moon to light my way. E

Blakely Since we were out of stardust and had no time to make more, we were forced to travel on foot. With my body now reborn into that of an immortal, I couldn’t complain. Each step, be it uphill or down, was as easy as breathing. There was no strain in my muscles, no soreness, even after several hours had passed. While we walked, my mates helped me practice my magic. “Lunette never spoke of limits to what she could do.” Orion explained, his eyes scanning the forest for hidden threats. “I know she was more powerful at night, but she was no weakling during the day either.” I took turns listening to each of my mates, learning the constraints of their powers. Moonlight was similar to any other light and could be manipulated at will. I practiced with Draco, calling the shadows and bending them, twisting them into hiding us from view. I wielded light with Azrael, blending us into our surroundings for seconds at a time. Even Lina had stopped her complaining to watch and throw out tip