Chapter 244

I fell to the ground, choking.

For a moment, I imagined Candido stroking my hair like we were in one of the parlors at the Estate before the war. I could almost hear him reading a book to me, some book that I was supposed to read for class but didn’t want to. I didn’t remember the words. I wasn’t even paying attention to his words or the book. I didn’t care. I just loved that he was spending time with me. It was all that I wanted. It was all that I had ever wanted.

I closed my eyes and let myself sink into the memory. Slowly, the darkness faded. I felt his lips on my forehead then he was gone. It was so cold. I shivered in the wind that picked up over the mountaintop. I opened my eyes. Dawn was coming over the mountain. I shook and rolled over and tried to get up. I could see Candido there. His fur was still golden. He hadn’t turned back. He didn’t move. I crawled toward him.

“Candido?” I whispered. “Candido? You can’t be gone… She promised me. I… You promised.”

I got to him and went still. His body was still warm. I could feel his body moving as he breathed. I let out a sob of relief. He wasn’t gone. He wasn’t gone. I lay my head on his chest, listening to his heart beating.

“It’s okay,” I said. “W-When you wake up, we’ll get married and be together forever, but you have to wake up.”

I shook him. “Come on, Candido. You have to wake up.”

He didn’t move. He didn’t even stir. His eyes were closed.

“Wake up!”

He didn’t move. Then, a light started to glow from below. I frowned and leaned over the edge as it continued to grow. The light reflected over the silver all over. It started to melt and sparkle and drift into the air.

In the center, Ian was floating above the silver pool. His hair glowed. He lifted his staff over his head, and in his hand was that glowing rock. The silver rushed towards the rock. The light made it glow. It looked a bit like the moon.

I gasped, realizing that it was likely the Heart of the Moon. How had he gotten it? How long had he had it?

“It’s over.”

I turned back and looked at Cillian standing just inside the shadows of the trees.

“What?”

He blinked. “The real and imagined wars are over.”

“What do you mean by that? What imagined war?”

He took a deep breath. His eyes weren’t glowing red as he stepped out of the shadows. He walked to the edge of the mountain. I looked back over the edge of the mountain.

The light continued to get brighter. It seemed to stream from all over the area. It flashed and dripped through the air.

“That’s the Heart of the Moon,” I said. “Isn’t it?”

“I’m only here to collect on the oath,” he said.

I frowned. “Answer my question.”

He smiled at me. It was cold. “It’s a simple thing.”

“Why aren’t you answering me?”

“Why should I need to?”

I bared my teeth at him. “You should at least answer me.”

He crouched down beside me with a thin smile. His eyes glinted.

“I think it’s time you and I have a candid conversation.”

I narrowed my eyes, meeting his gaze as he smiled at me. It was so cold. The light from below continued to grow.

“What do you mean by that?”

“First, I could give a fuck about what you want,” Cillian said. “Why you ever thought I cared to be a tool in your idiotic attempts to make Candido jealous just shows how dumb you are.”

My jaw dropped. I bristled. “But you—”

“You’re a child,” he said. “You think that just because you want something that it should be yours, and you have no regard for anyone else.”

“You liked me!”

He scoffed. “I needed something from you, and your childish games suited my purpose enough.”

“You…” I set my jaw. “You wanted my mother. That’s why you wanted me. That’s why you did everything you did to me. You enjoyed it. You can’t lie that you did!”

He cocked an eyebrow. “You have a vastly over-inflated sense of importance. You are nothing like Hedwig, and my feelings for Hedwig died the day she betrayed us.”

I stared at him. Unable to believe him. I shook my head.

“As for you these feelings you mention, I derived no joy from touching you.”

“You’re just saying that. You’re just… You’re just trying to hurt me because you know that I’m meant to be with Candido.”

“You don’t even know what you want,” he scoffed and rolled his eyes. “You say you want him, then you jump at the chance to have any sort of sexual encounter with a man you know nothing about. You killed several members of his family, schemed to kill more, and continued to undermine his authority.”

“I didn’t—”

“If that is love,” Cillian said. “The world would burn.”

He smiled. “I guess in that way, in your selfishness and stupidity, your childishness, you are so very much like your mother.”

He stood and rolled his shoulders. “I have been waiting since the moment I saw you, the moment you agreed to the deal only thinking that I’d want to fuck you to tell you the truth.”

He laughed. “Never let it be said that I am not devout. The Goddess asked a lot of me, yet I delivered.”

“Screw you!” I yelled, tears streaming down my face. “Go away. The deal is off! I don’t want anything to do with you. I’ll never—”

I choked as something yanked in my chest. I couldn’t breathe. It felt like he’d wrapped his hand around my heart and squeezed. My heart pounded. My mind went blank with terror. I couldn’t breathe. I felt like I was going to die. His eyes flashed with red light.

“When you make an oath to a vampire,” he said. “Of the caliber you made, there is no backing out.”

My jaw trembled. “I don’t want to have sex with you.”

“I am grateful to never have to touch you again.”

My jaw trembled. When I thought back to how good he made me feel, I couldn’t understand it. He was lying. I knew he was. No one would touch someone like that and not care at all.

“You’re lying. I… can’t believe you would use—”

“Don’t play the victim,” he said. “From the moment you made that deal, you were hoping that Candido would simply kill me out of jealousy. You wanted something that you couldn’t get from Candido. I simply used your desires to my advantage.”

My jaw trembled. “What… did you do to me?”

He smiled. “I gave you exactly what you wanted: normalcy.”

I frowned. “Wh-What?”

“I took what was left of your mother’s power. The bit that made you a vampire and an awakened werewolf…” He smirked. “All you have left is her likeness and your father’s lineage.”

My gut churned as I thought about the way my fur had turned white.

“And give it a few hours…” he chuckled. “You’ll enjoy it, I’m sure. It’s going to be quite the experience… A few days… A few months… all of you in Solare are going to be going through something interesting soon.”

“What do you mean? Why would you do that?”

He laughed. “Don’t think yourself special. Other than the circumstances of your birth, you were just one of the many. This was the plan for centuries… even before Hedwig betrayed us for nothing.”

I blinked. “W-What do you mean?”

He smirked. “You’re aware that she brought a werewolf across the divide, aren’t you?”

I nodded.

“That was Candido’s father.” My eyes widened as I stared at him. “Candido’s grandfather is the one that she wanted in her youth, but when the walls were closed, there was no hope for that. By the time she figured out a way across the divide, long after Raven was born and old enough, the man she wanted was too old. In his place, she went after Candido’s father.”

I shook my head. “You’re lying.”

He tilted his head. “After he realized who she was and what wanted, He made her a deal: that she would be his next wife if she got him to Lunae. And she did. She led him and a small group into the palace, to her father’s chamber and he nearly killed him. Ian saved his life and banished her from Lunae for the betrayal.”

He chuckled. “She stayed with Candido’s family for years afterwards until the king grew tired of her because she couldn’t get him back across to finish the job. She and Candida became friends. When Ian came across the divide for revenge, she ran and killed Candida out of jealousy. She was Candido’s father’s mate, the woman he was married to was much like Sibyl.”