Chapter 199

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’t even think to get much angrier just seeing him running.

“What about me?” I yelled after him. Then, I felt something shove me forward.

I looked back as the barrier started to move, as if it was being pushed. Ian’s face was contorted in concentration. The man on the other side continued to walk forward as if nothing was happening. Shiloh grunted nearby.

“How much longer?” Shiloh grunted.

“Estella’s call,” Ian said, digging in his heels as the barrier continued to push me forward.

“We throw her through the barrier.”

“If anything passes through right now,” Ian growled. “Everything passes through. Besides, she wouldn’t be of any use to him.”

I dug in my heels. “Stop talking about me like that! I’m going to be luna and--”

Ian growled and lifted his foot, kicking me back toward the rest of the group. I cried out and tumbled across the ground. My eyes filled with tears at the pain in my back as I lifted my head and looked back. The barrier seemed to glow brighter and grow harder, shoving back.

“What are you doing?” Candido asked.

“Candido, he—“He grabbed me, hauling me to my feet and dragging me along. Raven ran past me.

“Uncle Ian!”

Messiah followed after her, bracing the barrier as she sent out a wave of light from her hands that strengthened the barrier.

“Keep moving!” Cillian called over the noise. I looked over at him. His clothes were mussed as if he’d been in another battle, but I didn’t remember seeing him. Candido shoved me forward into the rest of the crowd before going back. I turned back, tears streaming down my face as I turned back to see him helping Estella with someone else. They hauled the sagging, bleeding man toward the rest of the crowd. I wanted to block their way, to make Candido drop him and leave him to Estella, but I couldn’t.

I was swept off my feet and carried into the cave after everyone else. Cillian’s scent filled my nose.

“This isn’t the time to be jealous,” he said stiffly.

I looked back at Candido, who didn’t even seem to be aware of what was happening to me. He didn’t even seem to care. I sobbed then I heard a stroke of thunder. Clouds gathered, and lightning struck, filling the sky with light. Then, the cave wall slammed shut behind us. Shiloh, Messiah, Raven, and Ian tumbled to the ground, panting and leaning on the cold walls.

Cillian walked over to them. “Are you injured?”

Ian shoved his hands away and over toward Raven. “Tend her. I’m fine.”

“He’s…” Shiloh panted. “Way stronger than we thought.”

“He’s had time to drink his way through the remnants,” Ian huffed. “That little organization has basically been feeding him all these years. Idiots.”

Candido came back. “What do you mean by that?”

“Your little bit of scrambling doesn’t mean anything to someone who doesn’t care what magic remains in your blood, so much that it does,” Ian blew out a breath. “A list of targets is still a list of targets. While he didn’t have direct access to it, he had enough access to it. How many of your little vigilantes have gone missing over the years, I wonder. Are they even missing, or have they just been turned?”

“That’s not true. No one—”

“Shut up,” the four of them said.

Raven hissed as Cillian did something to her arm.

“Did he bite you?” Cillian asked softly.

“No, a bullet grazed me. Why aren’t they out yet?”

“They’ve taken over all of the armory factories,” Messiah said. “They probably haven’t even worked through the reserves that were on the Blue Moon compound.”

Ian groaned as he pushed himself to his feet. “I need to feed. We all do.”

I drew back as he turned toward me. “A bit of advice,” Ian said. “Don’t ever listen to someone who covers what you have.”

“What does that mean?” I asked. “I haven’t done anything!”

“Except for agreeing with the man who wants to eat your precious Candido,” Shiloh growled.

I gritted my teeth. “Well, I wouldn’t have if he wasn’t right! You all haven’t been a—”

“Who was he?” Candido asked, cutting me off.

“Candido—”

“Finally, an intelligent question,” Ian said. “His name is Marius, and he is my father’s brother.” My eyes widened. “He is also Damian’s sire, and while he does not care much for his sired children, he will be furious at the loss of Damian.”

“Why?”

His lips twitched. “Thanks to her, he’s the only one who had ever even remotely tasted a golden wolf’s blood. You’re rather rare if you haven’t noticed. I wouldn’t suggest going the route of her and offering yourself to him. I doubt he would make it pleasant.”

Candido scowled. “What is his problem? Revenge?”

“He covets Lunae,” Ian said quietly. “He always has. This is not a short-term game for him.”

“Well, what about you?” I asked. “How can we trust you? You want to be king! You want”

“You know nothing of what I want,” Ian said. “You don’t even know what you want. Thus, if you have nothing of use to say, shut up.” Ian rolled his eyes. “The vampires under him were banished as traitors to the throne when the gates between Lunae and here closed. He wants a kingdom of his own. Marius has always wanted the throne of Lunae. Getting werewolf lands is just a perk and a means to an end.”

He sighed and shook his head. “Rather, it is also a means to an end. He is a creature of ambition and greed. He wants it all.”

“Was anything he said true?” Candido asked. “About the war? About your forces?”

“Are you asking me if I expect every person over a certain age who lives in Lunae to come and fight this battle?” He cocked an eyebrow. “To fight a battle that has nothing to do with us?”

“You just said that he wants it all!” I cried. “How does it not have anything to do with you? “

“He said they have an artifact,” Candido said. “Isn’t this battle becoming more mutual?’

Ian’s lips twitched. “I forget how young you are… Must everyone under duress tell the truth?”

Candido went still.

“Perhaps they do, but do they know how to use it? Perhaps they simply believe they have an artifact, and they are wrong. There are many powerful objects that have been lost to time that are not an artifact. Perhaps they simply believe they know where one is. Or, perhaps Damian was simply stalling for time. How can you ever know which it is?”

“You’re saying he wouldn’t know?” Candido asked.

“I am saying that there is no way to know for certain if they have one or not.”

Candido said nothing for a moment.

“We had him subdued,” I said. “He was scared for his life. He had to tell the truth.”

“Your naivety is astounding. It’s starting to irritate me more than your voice does.” Ian said. “Damian was stalling for time. Whatever truth may have been in his words is complicated by that fact.”

“Do you believe he has one?” Candido asked finally, and I couldn’t believe it.

Why would he ask that as if he could trust Ian to give him a straight answer? He couldn’t! Ian never gave a straight answer.

“No,” Ian said. “I do believe he is searching for the answers to find one.”

Candido nodded. “That’s good.”

“How can you just believe what he said?” I asked. “Candido, you can’t! They’re vampires.”

Candido let out a soft breath. “Hedy… Please, just be quiet.”

“No!”

Raven’s eyes narrowed, and she gestured through the air. I felt something around my neck, and Cillian laughed.

“You need to rest,” he said. “No more magic.”

I glared at her as I tried to speak and found that I couldn’t.

“It’s worth it,” Raven said. “Shouldn’t naughty kids be put in timeout?”

Ian chuckled. “Indeed. Shall we get going? He has no control over the caves without Damian, I think, but we should not test it.”