All Chapters of MoonLit Sins: The Curse Of Red Hollow: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The morning sun was a cruel joke. Its golden light poured through the cracked window of Kael’s apartment, slicing through the haze of smoke and uncertainty that had settled between us like an unwelcome guest.I lay awake, staring at the ceiling, the weight of yesterday’s betrayal pressing down harder than any wound. The Council meeting had been a disaster. Trust was shattered, alliances fractured, and the rogue faction’s grip tightened like a noose.The echoes of voices from that chamber still rang in my ears, accusations, denials, the sickening moment when blades were drawn and loyalties crumbled like dry leaves in the wind. I had always believed that betrayal would come from the outside. I never expected it to wear the face of someone I once trusted.Kael was quiet when he finally joined me at the small kitchen table. His usual confident demeanor was replaced by a brooding intensity that made my skin prickle.He didn’t say anything at first. Just stared down into the black coffee in

The moment the mysterious woman vanished back into the shadows of the catacombs, the air seemed to tighten around us, like the city itself was holding its breath, waiting for the next move on a board none of us fully understood.Kael’s grip on my hand tightened. It wasn’t possessive, it was protective. A silent promise passed between our skin: whatever came next, we’d face it side by side. No running. No turning back.“Great,” I muttered, brushing dust off my jacket and forcing my pulse to calm. “So now we’ve got a curse, a prophecy, and a secret guardian. Could we make this any more complicated?”Kael exhaled through a half-laugh, his smirk curling with that familiar glint of mischief and something dangerously close to affection. “You love complicated.”I shot him a look. “I tolerate it.”But even I could hear the lie in my voice. I did love it. The danger, the unraveling puzzle, the feeling that I was part of something bigger than myself, even if it was dark, chaotic, and likely to

The dawn arrived drenched in firelight, bone-colored and fragile. Kael and I emerged from the ancient temple under a sky bruised with crimson dawn. Every leaf and stone trembled in the aftermath of the ritual, as if Red Hollow itself was recalibrating.The Thornbane dagger, freshly holstered and humming with new power, felt both lighter and heavier in my hand. Light, because the curse had been healed, reforged; heavy, because the world now depended on our success. No turning back.We walked back to the clearing where the rest of our allies gathered. Selene, silent and watchful; my father, distant and introspective; the witch covenant and the lone vampire bat Edgar, its red eyes swept from shadow to light.Selene approached first, expression unreadable. I braced for reprimand.“Something changed,” she said quietly, voice calm but tense. “I sensed the magic bending toward you, but it’s stabilized now. Whole.”Kael exhaled, shoulders relaxing a hair. “We did it.”But there was no celebra

Fog clung to the city like a shroud as Kael and I left the calm of the Hall beneath the Gargoyle Bridge. In the dim glow of street lanterns, we walked side by side through alleyways lined with broken stone and whispered memories. After negotiating the fragile truce with the rogue faction, one might expect relief, but tonight, the city felt like it was holding its breath."We did it," I murmured, voice low, glancing at Kael. His eyes reflected the moonlight and something else: worry."Yeah," he replied, softly. "But this peace... it's shaky. Like post-battle quiet."The wind sighed through the ruins overhead, and Kael pulled me closer. "Let’s go back. Talk."At his apartment, the tension lingered, stubborn and prickly.Kael poured us both a drink, whiskey for him, herbal tea for me."Your parley with Arevia," I started, taking a small sip, "how real do you think it is?"He paused, staring into his glass. "She’s smart. She knows the Shade’s bigger threat to them than us. But her faction

Moonlight filtered through the broken stained-glass dome of the old cathedral’s ruins, casting fractured rainbows across the cracked marble floor. Kael and I stood in its center, surrounded by the remnants of ancient pews and shattered altar pieces. The air buzzed like static, charged with the promise of battle and the weight of our choices.“You sure you want to do this now?” Kael asked, voice low in the sacred quiet. His hand hovered near my side, where the Thornbane dagger hung.I inhaled deeply, holding carefully to steady my shaking heart. “We can’t wait. They’re rallying more followers. If we don’t strike tonight, we risk losing more than a truce.”His hand closed around mine.“Together?”“Together,” I agreed, voice fierce.We slipped into the shadows with the rest of our team, Selene, Edgar (flying overhead like a sarcastic eye in the sky), vampires leaning like statues in the alcoves, and sentinels prowling the perimeter.The target: the ritualists who worshiped the Shade, hid