Chapter 343

Tessa’s POV

“We’ve enchanted the house!” Esme said as she rushed towards me. “Nobody besides your blood can get in. Including any of us.”

“What about Joseph?” I asked, shouting through the chaos.

“We weren’t able to exclude him either,” Esme told me. She grabbed onto my arms and gave them a gentle squeeze. “You need to go inside and protect yourself. They are here because they want your heart.”

I looked around at the ongoing fight. My stomach twisted. People were dying and I couldn’t help but feel responsible. I needed to fix this, not hide like a coward.

“We need to find Ruby,” I told her firmly.

“We are on the lookout for her, but so far we haven’t been able to see her or Eevee,” Esme said, looking around with a frown on her face.

“Have you checked everywhere?”

“We checked inside before we enchanted the house,” Esme told me.

I shook my head.

“What about the barn? Or the stables?”

“No, we haven’t checked those yet. We can do that right now,” Esme said.

“I’ll come with you,” I told her urgently.

I glanced over my shoulder at Joseph who was busy fighting off a couple of vampires. Even though it was two-on-one, Joseph easily had the upper hand. He was much stronger than both combined and plus, he had a gun. Though he wasn’t using it for this fight. He was probably trying to save the ammunition. I wanted to tell him that I was slipping away to find Ruby, but he was preoccupied, and I didn’t want to distract him.

I turned back to Esme and nodded to her.

“Let’s go,” I told her.

With that, we both ran through the battle, both using our powers to shield off attackers.

We decided to check the barn first because it was closer than the stable. Esme used her magic to bust the door open and it flew open with ease. A startled yelp sounded from inside, so we wasted no time in getting inside the barn to see who was inside.

I froze when I saw Amelia.

She had some strange items surrounding her on the ground and she looked like she was doing some kind of spell. Tears were clear in her eyes and her hands were trembling.

“Amelia? What are you doing?” I asked her, my brows furrowed as I stared at the mess on the ground.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know what else to do. She has Ruby…” Amelia cried, tears streaming down her cheeks. “She will kill her if I don’t do as she asks.”

“Why is she doing all of this? I thought she wanted my heart for herself. Why is she sending others after me?” I asked, still not understanding what was happening.

“It requires great strength and power to take the Heavenly Heart; power that Penny nor I have. Someone out there is bound to be able to succeed. Penny is sitting back and waiting for it to happen. Once they successfully get your heart, she wants me to use the crystals to replace your mother’s spell and make them forget again so she can take your heart for herself.”

“Where is Penny now?” I asked, looking around the barn.

“I don’t know. She said she was watching the show from afar. I’ve been setting up to replace your mother’s spell, waiting for the battle to conclude. Unless they get your heart, the battle will be ongoing.”

“Where is Ruby?” I finally asked her, having heard enough.

Tears sprang free from her eyes, and she shook her head.

“I don’t know,” she whimpered. “I haven’t seen. We were in the stables and then we came into here. I didn’t see her anywhere on this farm.”

I looked at Esme whose eyes were narrowed at the sound of the stables. We were both thinking the same thing. Without another word, we quickly ran out of the barn and towards the stables. I reached it first and grabbed the doorknob, but to my dismay, it was locked.

“Shit,” I muttered.

“Stand back,” Esme said just as she used her fire magic to blast the door wide open.

“I could have done that,” I muttered.

A scream had me paralyzed for only a second, but once the smoke cleared, I saw Ruby standing with large eyes in the center of the stables holding a hay rake. I furrowed my brows at it just as Ruby released it, allowing it to thud to the ground.

“Tessa,” she breathed, nearly collapsing to the ground.

Thankfully, I was quick and ran to catch her before she fell. I wrapped my arms around her and held her tightly. She cried in my arms, her entire body shaking and quivering.

“What the hell is going on?” She asked between sobs. “All I can hear is fighting. It’s awful. She bolted the door so I couldn’t get out. I was trying to break it down with the rake when you appeared.”

“Oh, Ruby,” I said as tears left my own eyes. “It’s such a mess. Everything is my fault. I’m so sorry I put you in this position.”

“Hey, now, friend. You did not put me in any position. None of this your fault,” she assured me, patting my back. “Penny orchestrated this entire thing, and we are going to stop it. My purpose in life is to protect you. I saw what happens when you die and it’s not pretty. It’s my job to make sure others see it too.”

That’s exactly what the Moon Goddess told me in the dream I had. Did Ruby have the same dream? Or maybe she had a vision.

I pulled away from her and wiped the tears from my eyes.

“What are you saying?” I asked her.

“I’m saying, it’s time I make a sacrifice,” she told me, giving me a reassuring smile. “I need to expand my powers and make every supernatural creature see life without you. If they see what I saw… they won’t harm you anymore. This battle would end.”

“That’s a lot of power though, Ruby. What if—”

“I know what could happen,” she told me, giving me a sad smile. “But I’d rather die knowing I made a difference vs. not doing anything and saving myself. I need to protect you and this world. Your child needs to live Tessa. The Heavenly Light is the only thing keeping the Moon Goddess’s brother away.”

“Then we should find Carter so you can—”

“No!” Ruby all but shouted. “If he knew about any of this, he would try to stop me. I can’t have him stop me or guilt me. I love him so much, Tessa. But I can’t tell him about this plan and I’m not strong enough to say goodbye to him.”

I hugged her tightly as tears spilled from my eyes.

“I’m not going to let you die, Ruby. The coven is behind you, and we will help you get through this,” I assured her.

“I love you, Tess,” she said between her own tears before pulling away from me. “Now, let’s go save this world.”

“I’ll gather the coven and we can cast a circle,” Esme said, nodding at us both.

I wrapped my arm through Ruby’s and held her close to my side.

“No matter what happens, I will always love you, Rubes,” I told her.

She gave me a bright smile and put her head on my shoulder.

“Same, girl.”

….

Joseph’s Pov

Tessa was missing. I had looked everywhere while fighting these assholes. I turned around after I killed two of the vampires, thinking Tessa would still be behind me, but she wasn’t there. She was nowhere to be seen.

“Tessa!!” I yelled for what felt like the thousandth time.

If anything happened to her, I would never forgive myself for taking my eyes off her, even for a second. My heart nearly shattered in my chest at the very thought of it. I fought my way through more of the supernatural creatures. They seemed to be multiplying by the second. How everyone knew we were here and arrived so quickly was beyond me, but I didn’t have any time to question it.

I spun around again, yelling Tessa’s name until my voice went hoarse.

“Joseph!! Watch out!” I heard Bernard yell from afar and I quickly turned to see a werewolf lunging at me with his teeth elongated.

I didn’t have the time to pull out my gun and shoot him, but he was intercepted by Bernard who flew his body in front of me, shielding me from the attack.

The wolf’s fangs dug deep into Bernard's neck, blood splattering everywhere.

My heart dropped into my stomach as I finally pulled out my gun. Without thought, I pointed the gun and pulled the trigger, successfully shooting my target. The wolf released Bernard's neck and fell to the ground.

In a panic, I ran to Bernard.

He was losing blood quickly and he was having trouble breathing; his face had gone completely white and his eyes were becoming lifeless.

“No no no no,” I said, trying to stop the bleeding with my hands. The only thing that did was get his blood all over me. “You can’t go like this. I won’t let you die. It’s going to be okay.”

“Joseph…” he croaked, attempting to lift his hand to touch me.

My entire body shook as I attempted to stop the bleeding and keep him from slipping away. Bernard was the closest thing I had to a father. I couldn’t lose him… I wouldn’t.

“I was… always… meant to… go… like this…” he said in a raspy whisper between breaths. “It was…foreseen….”

A while back, Anna had a vision that Bernard died in the middle of a battle. Once Anna has a vision about death, it’s unavoidable because it means their fate has been sealed. But I refused to believe that this was how he was going to die. I couldn’t let him die… not like this.

“You are going to be okay,” I told him firmly. “I’ll find a healer and—”

“Joseph…” Bernard said, shushing me. “There isn’t… time. Listen to me… I need… you… to be… the leader. The Over… seer.”

“What?” I asked my brows furrowed. “No, I—”

“You are… the… only one… I trust…” he said, his voice falling short as he ran out of breath. “You…. Are… ready…”

“Bernard, I’m going to get you help,” I assured him, attempting to stand but he held onto my arm with the last of his strength.

“It’s too… late….” He whispered, his eyes fluttering shut. “Take care… of… our… tribe. And…” he let out a strained cough and wince in pain. The movement of the cough made more blood spill from the gaping wound on his neck.

“Bernard…” I said, shaking my head.

“And… protect… Tessa—” He sucked in another sharp breath as his body quivered. “Tell… Anna… I… love her…”

“I promise I’ll take of the tribe…I’m so sorry Bernard…”

Bernard released his breath like he was waiting for Joseph’s promise and he never sucked in another breath again.

Bernard was dead.