It's only natural to assume that Priest Lee dwells in Grave Shadow's infirmary, just as any priest of Luna would. Regardless, Grace has missed out on too many chances to sneak in previously. She's done a whole lot of staring at his doorway from a safe distance, but no actual call to action. Not even a knock.

It's pathetic. She certainly feels pathetic. And if she can't do this now, then she won't be able to ever again.

On this last day, her compulsions wail at her to just go already, so finally, finally, she does. Procrastination at its finest. Not her proudest moment.

With her fingers knotting together, she has to triple check the coast being clear, her head of red hair frantically whipping back and forth down the steel corridor, right before stumbling inside like a pup with two left paws. Upon her abrupt arrival, leftover smoke from freshly burnt incense fills her nostrils. It's an instant balm of calm, a familiar constant in her life.

He still prays to Her.

Thank God. That's definitely better than nothing at all, for priests like them are meant to believe in Her will. A flicker of hope sparks, prompting Grace further inside his chilling domain. Even with her pale pink sweater pressed snug against her torso, shivers slither past the ribbed sleeves and race across her arms, an onset of goosebumps threatening to arise once more. It's so cold here...

Grace knows she would be praying right now too, had this been her own warmer and brighter infirmary back in Blood Moon. A sense of longing curdles in the pit of her stomach at the thought of being home again. Once Cyrus and Jax were done concluding their business with Zeke, they'd officially return. All would be better. Or at least, as better as they can be, given the current circumstances... and the bats that secretly lurked in the shadows of their basement...

Truly, out of everything, Grace misses the comforts of her room the most. The nightly fireplaces that would blaze a trail of warmth all the way from the common room... the books that awaited her from their place on her mahogany nightstand... the satin sheets, infused with the scent of jasmine and cherry blossoms...

However, while she's still here, she must speak with Lee. Just him and her—two priests of Luna minding their own religious business.

This would perfectly be fine had Cyrus and Jax not already decided to plot for the impossible death of the almighty deity responsible for their lycanthrope livelihoods. Alphas and their prides... there's nothing else Grace can do to protest their mutually destructive cause.

Speaking of Lee, where is he–

"Priest Grace?" Lee exclaims, a squeaky yelp following after her name. "Why are you here?"

All this time, the other omega had been right behind her. For Luna's sake!

"P-Priest Lee," she stutters out not-so-eloquently, her hands flopping around in a fit of flustered surprise. "I, um, wanted to pray with you before I left with Alpha Jax and Cyrus on our journey to Blood Moon."

That's not true and she doesn't know why she even says this, but it's too late to take anything back. It would be rude to retract the offer now.

"Uh, of course..." Lee stiffly replies.

Oh Luna, she can't even blame him for his stark reluctance. For the past week now, Grace hasn't exchanged anything outside of wary eye contact with him. This might be the first time they've ever swapped words with one another, actually.

How embarrassing.

Lee swipes out a lit match from the metal altar he'd been praying at earlier. A wick of fire, a reddish-orange swirl of energy, licks the pitch black head of a brand new incense stick, which he then extends over to Grace.

With practiced ease, Grace takes his offering, then clutches it in between her fingertips. Darkness sweeps her vision as she momentarily shuts her eyes. A slow and steady inhale is drawn, picking up hints of smoke and sanitizer. Seems like Lee had been tidying around earlier.

"In Her name, we pray," Grace begins.

"In Her name, we pray," Lee echoes, following after her lead.

"May She consider sparing us Her mercy, even when faced with the adversity of our leaders."

A hesitant pause lingers from him, a prolonged moment that seems to waver with an extra beat of silence, before he confirms it right back. "May She consider sparing us Her mercy, even when faced with the adversity of our leaders."

"May She rest well from Her place among the stars," Grace recites, even if she doesn't mean this particular part about Luna. She can't. Not anymore, not with what she really wants to discuss with Lee. "May She continue to appreciate our eternal efforts and timeless devotions to Her and Her alone."

"May She rest well from Her place among the stars," Lee repeats. "May She continue to appreciate our eternal efforts and timeless devotions to Her and Her alone."

Then, together, they softly conclude with, "Amen."

After setting their matching incense sticks inside of the gray censer, a bottomless pit of ashes for prayers of the past and present, Grace finally blurts the question that's been at the tip of her tongue aloud. Internally, the dam behind her polished courtesy breaks loose as a dose of lethal honesty leaks through.

"How has your sleep been, Priest Lee?"

Instantly, he flinches at the question. The way that his shoulders hitch up, all while his head of pink hair suddenly jerks to the side to avoid her inquisitive gaze, says everything Grace needs to know.

She probes further, asking, "You've seen Her in your dreams too, haven't you?"

"I don't– no." Lee presses his mouth into a thin line, biting down on his quivering lower lip. "I-I can't. We may pray for Her to spare mercy, but my priorities still have to align with Alpha Jax's agenda. We're not having any other conversations about Her."

"How can you say that?" Grace gasps, a hand gripping her chest. "Of course it means something. She is God. She is the light that's above all. Don't you see? We're witnessing Her dreams in our sleep. They come to us as visions."

"Easy for you to say, Priest Grace. Your boyfriend's the leader of Blood Moon himself. He naturally has more leniency to you. Meanwhile, I'm always at Alpha Jax's mercy. This may be the first time in history that an alpha trusts an omega this much. I have to keep it that way—for my sake, as well as the sake of my own boyfriend."

Ah, Grace understands.

She remembered Lee dancing with Adrian Grimshaw on the night of Luna's ball. From what she briefly recalled, while overhearing other omega housekeepers chatter away this past week, the Grimshaws used to rule Grave Shadow before Jax Sterling aced The Trials and became their new leader.

"Just because you obey Alpha Jax's orders for a better life, that doesn't mean that we can't talk about what Her dreams mean," Grace says, reaching forward to brush a hand on Lee's back. "I only ask that you discuss them with me. I can't– I can't be the only one going through this."

She's never felt more alone in her beliefs.

Luna may scorn their leaders. She may disapprove of their actions. She may wish for their downfall. But if She still cares for them—Grace and Lee and all of the other priests out there—then a part of Her can still care for the rest of their packs too. There's still a chance.

That's what Grace selfishly hopes for. Heed Luna's will and She will spare them the extent of Her mercy.

"Priest Grace." Gently, Lee grabs her hand off his back, right before squeezing her fingers. "You're crying..."

Grace blinks, registering the damp weight of her tears blurring everything together. Her golden irises are blown wide, gleaming with fear.

Fear.

Because the truth is, she's scared. As much as she has worshiped Her, dedicated her entire life to Her, she's also scared too—she bears fear for their light, their moon, their Luna. Lately, she's been seized with visceral glimpses of Luna's dreams, ever since She had fallen off this world and into a plane of slumber. She's so deep inside Luna's dreams that she feels like she is Her.

She can still smell the blood off her hands.

She can still taste the acidic bile clawing up her throat.

She can still see the pile of disheveled flesh and bones, of what was once another goddess, slumped beside her feet, practically dissolving into a growing puddle of red.

Ingrid. Ingrid. Ingrid.

Grace remembers it too well. And she doesn't want to. She really doesn't want to...

Lee seems to understand. After promptly providing her with some tissues and painkillers, he allows for a quiet hush to run its course before speaking once more.

When he finally does, he presses the ends of his palms into his forehead, rubbing the skin there in circular patterns, and releases a sigh. "I'm scared too," he admits, a wobble in his words. "It's like I was right there. In the dreams, or memories, or whatever they were—it's like I was..."

"Like I was Her," Grace finishes for him, in soft-spoken resignation. "Like I had been the one to kill Ingrid in person. Like I was tearing her apart myself."

"There was so much of Ingrid's blood," Lee adds, shaking. He wraps his arms around himself in a makeshift hug, his shoulders spiking up. "When I woke up, I felt like I was still drowning in it."

"But something else overwhelmed us." Grace's forehead creases in confusion. "We didn't just see her die, we cried for her." As she continues, an onslaught of sorrow rattles her, matching Lee's tremors. "Luna cried for Ingrid. Nothing in our tales of Her have ever shown that She mourned the other goddesses, let alone that She knew them to such an extent."

They both lapse into an awkward gap of silence after their shared revelation, trapped in a lull of uncertainty. What can they do with what they know? It's not as though their words can stop Jax and Cyrus from the inevitable.

In a world where their packs have done nothing but take and then take some more, even going as far as to threaten Luna's omnipotence over their realm, there is only one true outcome left: enduring the aftermath of Her wrath.

There is so much that they have yet to learn about God. Grace wonders what other horrors await, as the remnants of Her past trickle in their minds. 

Shout out to Bones for being the first one to actually get caught up to date for this story from the Rainbow Book Club! Truly, their support means a lot to me.