Chapter 248

I pushed at the wall, trying to get over there and drag Estella away from Candido. Then, Vanessa appeared dressed in a wispy gauzy red dress. She looked younger than the last time I had seen her. Two younger men followed her, chatting with her though I couldn’t make out what they were saying. They were dressed in red tunics.

Then, I saw Claire and Francium striding towards them in red. They were holding hands. Her hair was gathered up in a flower wreath as they smiled together. They looked so happy together as they sat beside Candido and Estella.

Soon, I saw other people. I saw Claire’s parents and the people I remember dying over the course of the war. They sat together in a circle around Candido and Estella, chatting happily.

“Don’t be happy!” I yelled, banging on the wall. “Claire! You’re supposed to be my friend! Get her away from my mate!”

No one even noticed I was there. They laughed and chatted, welcoming other people as they came to join them. Everyone else was wearing red, but Estella and Candido were wearing white temple tunics as if they were going to get married at a temple.

“You could have been happy.”

I turned to look beside me at the voice. It was a female voice with a strange echo. I felt it shaking the air and rushing around me, but it was cold and vicious.

Her hair was like moonlight down her shoulders. She wore a long red robe in black, and her eyes glowed red.

“Who are you?” I asked. “Are you the reason I can’t get over there?”

She chuckled. I growled and lunged at her. How dare she try to keep me from Candido? Before I could even touch her, I was falling back through the dark, slamming into sharp rocks and hard surfaces. I thought I would black out from the pain that filled my whole being when I was dropped beside the woman again.

She cooed softly. “The flowers really do suit her…”

I tried to lift my head as I saw Candida walking over a hill. Her hair was threaded with flowers as she walked. Her dress was a brilliant gold. She hugged Vanessa and ruffled a few people’s hairs before going to sit beside Candido. She stroked his hair with a soft, sad smile.

“I had such plans for you,” the woman said. “But you… just like your mother just couldn’t be satisfied with that, could you?”

Her words struck me. I tried to crane my neck to look up at her, but a force shoved me down.

“You don’t deserve the right to look at me for everything you’ve done,” she said. “Your arrogance and selfishness have cost so much, yet even here in my domain, in this safe haven for the dead I have made you don’t show even a bit of contrition. Of all the things that have descended from my hands, I have never been so disgusted as I am of you.”

“Candido… isn’t dead,” I choked out. The anger at the thought rose in me. “I won’t let you take him from me. I won’t let anyone take him from me.”

“Even now, you don’t understand how powerless you are… My Beloved is too kind to ask for mercy for you.” She tutted. “Though you are right, Candido is not dead. He is not exactly alive either.”

“But he is alive,” I said. “And as long as he’s alive, I know he’ll choose to come back to me.”

“His life force is being used to stabilize Solare, just as Estella’s is being used to stabilize Lunae. Now that the gates are going to finally be closed, it will—”

“I don’t care about that!” I yelled. “All I want is Candido.”

She chuckled. “Yes, I am so tired of hearing you say that, but you’ve gotten what you’ve asked for.”

“That’s not true,” I sobbed. “Look at him over there with her when I’ve been with him this entire time. He’s my mate.”

“I gave you answers to the questions you asked,” she said. “I showed you visions of the futures your actions would create, yet you decided to continue on your path. When you decided to defy me, you sealed your destiny. There is no one to blame but yourself.”

I stared ahead, looking at Candido and Estella as everyone around them continued to talk. Tears streamed down my face.

“He’s my mate…”

“If Estella had been at Candido’s side as I showed you, neither of them would be here now… There was a long and happy future for them, a prosperous reign full of joy… The gates would have been flung open. Solare would be healed. The animosity would have been laid to rest,” she said and sighed. “It was the concession I made to Candida for her devoutness even in the face of your mother’s actions. It was the gift I gave your grandfather when he still found it in his heart to ask for mercy for your mother.”

The pressure released me and I rolled over, sucking in air. She didn’t even look at me as she continued.

“But you… just like Hedwig would have rather died than take the gift I had given you. Spoiled, arrogant and foolish: you planned to kill Estella and everyone else that Candido loved just to have him.” She laughed. “You offered anything to have him and while it was a disgusting wish, and you are a disgusting person, I did what was necessary despite the lives that will never be born and the future that can no longer be.”

She turned then. Her eyes glowed even brighter. Her hair grew wild.

“Yet even now you don’t have a single ounce of remorse, a single thought to what you’ve done. You scheme to kill anyone who might threaten the lie you’re building for yourself, so content to burn down everything if it means having him.” She shook her head. “You’re just like your mother, and just the same as I told her, I am telling you: you will never be luna.”

“I don’t believe you,” I said. “When Candido wakes up… We’ll be married. I’ll be luna because I’m his wife.”

She snorted. “Tell that to Sibyl.”

I looked back, expecting to see Sibyl there, but I didn’t.

“There is no forgiveness for her either,” she said. “Though she is not facing the same hell you will when your time comes.”

I grit my teeth and pushed myself up. “If I ruined everything, that means Candido can break free of the coma and come back to me.”

She laughed again. Her voice echoed.

“Silly child, Candido isn’t coming back.”

My heart lurched. “You’re lying.”

“This is the price of what you asked for,” she smiled coldly. “You can have his body, what’s left of it anyway. You can marry him and be his wife to the eyes of the dredges of Solare who don’t know any better, but you will never be luna as there will no longer be werewolves.”

“You’re cruel,” I sobbed. “You twisted my wish. That isn’t what I wanted. I want to be his mate—”

“You’re cruel,” she sneered. “Your selfishness has cost Candido more than can ever be forgiven, yet still you take.”

She lifted her head as I sobbed.

“If I had the patience to listen to your pathetic little request with no regard for anything else, the situation Lunae and Solare would be in would be much worse than this forced separation.”

“I don’t believe you.”

She smiled. “I don’t need you to, but I do so relish a chance to see the pain on your face when you realize the truth.”

The doorway to that place vanished, and in its path, I saw the temple altar. It was the day that I had interrupted the wedding. Sibyl left the temple sobbing, and I took her place. I took Candido’s hands. We exchanged bands and kissed. The image faded away, then I saw the gorge we’d been in when I thought Estella had been killed. Candido was down there with Estella. I didn’t see where I was in this vision, but it didn’t matter. Vampires were rushing toward them, but Wren didn’t appear to grab him. I saw the ring on Candido’s hand glint in the moonlight as the vampires swarmed. They fought hard, but when Estella collapsed from blood loss. Candido stumbled. The sword slipped out of his hand and Marius appeared as they were overtaken.

He plunged his fangs into Candido’s neck as the other man who looked like him plunged his fangs into Estella’s neck. My heart lurched. I didn’t understand how that was possible. I didn’t understand how this was supposed to grant my wish. Obviously, I wanted to live the rest of my life with Candido.

Was I dead in this version of what happened? I saw Marius and the others marching on the rest of the werewolves, killing and draining everyone. They turned everyone. Then, I saw myself falling to the bottom of a deep cave into the dark with my throat torn out. The ring on my hand glinted in the fading light. The cave system collapsed and ripped a hole between the two worlds.

I saw Ian surging to the front of a large army and the two sides of the war rushed at each other before the vision faded.