Chapter 130

I rushed to get dressed, but I was sluggish. Candido wasn’t much better, we hustled out of the room only to find Vanessa running down the hall.

“Stay behind,” Vanessa said.

“But—”

“We don’t need you two out and about in the field still at odds.”

I said nothing, but Candido seemed offended. “You think that we can’t—”

“You’re also swaying on your feet,” Vanessa said. “Get some rest and take the time to get whatever is going on resolved.” She stopped and looked at us both with a menacing finger pointed at us. “That’s an order to both of you.”

I set my jaw, wanting to protest. This wasn’t a Moon Shadow issue. She had no right to tell me what to do with regard to my relationship with Candido, but the only thing I could think of was everything that Raven told me, and if Steven had given Candido all the information he asked for. He hadn’t said anything about it and I was afraid to ask. I know what Raven said made sense, but I didn’t even know how to go about easing him into this if Steven had already told him that my mother was a vampire.

“I got it,” Candido said gruffly. “But I’m not happy about it.”

Vanessa glanced meaningfully at me before leaving with a rallying cry towards the garage. With so many of the Blue Moon and Moon Shadow operatives leaving the base, it felt empty. It was odd standing in the hallway with Candido feeling so uncomfortable. Not just because I was still mad at him or even because of Vanessa’s orders, but because I didn’t know how I was ever going to tell Candido the truth.

Could I eventually? Raven seemed confident that having more than just the fact that I was half vampire would help the conversation go smoother, but would it really? I doubted a kiss and… everything else she suggested was going to be enough to smooth over the fact that my mom’s family had killed his family.

I still wasn’t entirely sold that I believed that we were really related. She could have been a werewolf that had been turned. Maybe her powers were some form of energy manipulation or something.

More than that, Candido had hidden so many things from me over the years. He still hadn’t told me anything about my mother. I worried my lip, thinking back to the journal that Raven had given me. I needed some time to sneak away and read it, but with us being alone, there was no way that I could get away long enough to read it.

“Come on,” Candido said gently, nudging me down the hall. “Let’s… go back to bed.”

I glanced up at him wanting to argue, but the sound of a bed was welcome. I was still exhausted and my entire body ached. He still hadn’t offered me any of his blood, as I thought about it. When we reached the room. I went to bed but Candido didn’t move from in front of the door, simply watching me.

I braced for his questions or suspicion. Maybe he could see it, but he said nothing. He stepped closer.

“I’m sorry.” My eyes widened. “I shouldn’t have pushed you like that.”

He cupped my face and tucked a stand of hair behind my ear as he pulled my hood down.

“I’m… still getting use to you hiding things from me,” he said. “Getting used to the idea that you’re not just my little girl anymore. I’ll try to keep out of your dreams until you’re ready to tell me.”

My jaw trembled. My eyes burned and I pulled him close to crash our lips together. He grunted, wrapping his arms around my waist and deepened the kiss as he back me up toward the bed.

“I shouldn’t have let you go alone.”

“We didn’t have a choice.”

“There’s always a choice,” he said.

“Everyone could have been killed.” I landed on the bed and he leaned over me.

“…it was a sacrifice I’m still willing to make.”

My eyes widened.

“Never doubt how much you mean to me, Hedy,” he said slowly. “Never… think there is anything in this world more important to me than you.”

I looked up at him wondering if he was saying that because we were mates, because he promised to take care of me, or if it was just how he felt.

I smiled and pat the bed beside me. “Let’s get some rest.”

He crawled up beside me and pulled me close. Soon, I was asleep again.

Then, I was falling and falling through darkness. Hard surfaces jumped out at me. The wind tumbled me around. I was in that cave again, just falling and tumbling around until I landed in the deep dark waters. I struggled for the surface, but I couldn’t. The currents were too strong. They slammed me around until l someone yanked me out and above me was Damian.

“Finally, we have some alone time together.”

I screamed.

“Hedy!” Candido called, shaking me out of the nightmare. I sat up and shuddered as he wrapped his arms around me, rocking me. “It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s just a dream.”

I nodded, shuddering. I didn’t ever want to be alone with Damian again if I could help it. Shiloh and Messiah might have been mean to me, but they hadn’t lied, I don’t think. Damian was after me and he wouldn’t just say mean things to me. He’d probably try to kill me or worse.

Knowing who my mother was and how they were related, I wouldn’t even be surprised if he had some other type of plan for me. I felt ill at the thought.

“It’s alright,” Candido said.

Then, another alarm went off. Candido went stiff. It wasn’t a warning alarm as there weren’t any sirens and no flashing lights, but Candido slipped out of bed. I got up.

“What is it?”

“They’re back,” he said. “And there are injured.”

My heart lurched, but I followed after him, down the halls and out to the receiving bay. Medics ran around, people cried out in agony. Gilgamesh was off to one side with a slowly filling bag of blood at his side.

“I thought I told you two to rest,” Vanessa said, lying nearby as someone stitched up her side. She stared ahead with a steely gaze.

“What happened?” I asked, looking around. There were a lot fewer people back than there had been when they left.

“It was a trap,” Vanessa said. “We lost half the forces.”

I gasped in horror.

“They came up with a new version of that drug and set off bombs in the area. People lost it, vampires swarmed. It was blood bath… we were lucky to retreat with the people we could. Gilgamesh gave us enough wind cover.”

He lifted his other arm. “Hero of the day over here.”

Vanessa grunted as the stitches were completed. From the angle, I could tell that it was a really large wound. She’d probably lost a lot of blood.

“The war has begun whether we like it or not.”

“We need more stitches!” Someone called.

Candido took the bandage from the medic. “I can take it from here.”

She nodded and turned. “There should be salve around soon.”

He nodded and set the bandages aside as he began to clean the area around the wound. A bit of blood continued to leak out from between the stitches, but I could tell that she was starting to heal.

Someone dropped a jar on the tray beside him and hurried around with more. He opened the jar and smeared it over the area before pressing a large bandage against the wound.

“What is that?”

“It’s made from golden wolf blood,” Candido said. “We use it for emergency medicine.”

I swallowed and nodded.

The television that had had been blank since we entered filled with an emergency broadcast colored screen before it changed to a fearful looking reporter. She was a mess, trembling and blood splattered.

“Read the script,” someone said off camera.

“R-Red Moon is the last in the attacks. The pack’s capital has been burned down. The estate has been burned down and… there is no sign of the alpha or the heiress.”

“Good.”

Her eyes widened and the scene changed to another news anchor walking on a hill above the towering flames of where the Red Moon capital had once been.

“Yes, this is Prince Damian, tuning in for a special announcement for every still living werewolf, but especially your precious alpha king." My stomach lurched as his face morphed and changed. His fangs glinted in the firelight and his eyes flashed with light. He looked as vicious as he had in my dream.

“This is the beginning of the end.”

My gaze dropped to the corner of the screen to where the date was and I realized that in exactly two weeks I’d be twenty.