Tenter (verb) to attempt

The words dead body triggered a shard of a memory that flashed through my mind for the briefest second.

A shallow river that looked very much like the Starfall River where my family sometimes visited, was choked with so many dead bodies the water ran as red as wine. In the distance, a woman screamed while a small child cried.

It was a...massacre.

A sick feeling rose from my stomach to my throat, and an icy chill racked my bones. There was so much blood. Everywhere.

As quickly as the memory came, it left. Like it had been locked away in a trunk inside my mind, and the lid had rattled open long enough for me to glimpse the scene.

But I didn't have time to make sense of it. Now was not the time for errant memories that I wasn't even sure were mine.

Without Cora's protection and with Bastien captured in a spell, there was no one to stop the swarm of witches that started toward me. With wands raised and spells on their lips.

They wanted me dead. They wanted my power. The only magick I'd been deemed worthy enough to wield.

The wolves growled and scratched at the frozen ground. Restless for a fight.

As Bastien was dragged toward the witch and my wall of flames continued to recede, I caught sight of the four demonic relics still sitting upon stones. I knew they were the source of dark magick on earth—objects imbibed with the energy of demons.

To hold one and not smash it would be an abomination. To use it would be treason.

But I couldn't help my family or my mate if I were dead. I needed to get to one if I could. But just the sight of them filled me with strength.

The dark and feral magick inside me uncoiled. Something that--on any other day--would have terrified me.

But not now. No. I welcomed it. I opened my palm, feeling heat coursing through my veins, pounding against my flesh, waiting to be unleashed, when Hera shouted, "Wait!"

The word echoed around the graveyard.

The witches storming toward me paused, confused. The magick fizzled against my skin, waiting for my command. I watched with disgust as her fingers wound in Bastien's soft, pale blonde hair like a lover might. Devilishly grinning at his frozen form.

That act alone had my blood boiling and the magick in me smoldering.

"I think the girl will come to me without any bloodshed at all," the witch said coyly. "Won't you, my dear? You know you don't deserve the gift you've received."

The fine hairs on my arms rose as a sense of deja vu rushed over me. The distasteful way she was speaking to me reminded me so sharply of my mother that I had to blink to ensure it wasn't her.

Like I was an inconvenient slug she'd stepped on and was annoyed that she had to scrape it off her boot.

I shook my head to clear the thought and instantly regretted it when the cut on my brow started throbbing.

A few witches inched closer, and my wolves snarled. Barking and showing their teeth.

"What will it be?" Hera said, flickering her blazing red eyes to me. "Either you submit to me, or your princeling dies." Laughing to herself, she added. "Vampires might be hard to kill, but even they aren't above a good beheading. And with this little blade, I'll be sawing at his neck for a long time before his pretty head pops off."

The blade was pressed into his skin, and I sucked in a sharp breath.

He was still frozen, unmoving, held into place by some dark spell. It was strange seeing him so vulnerable.

I wanted to hurt her for hurting Bastien. I wanted to hurt them for turning me into this...thing. And most importantly, I wanted to hurt them for who they were and what they'd done to my family.

I didn't know what in Diana's name I was doing, but I trusted in the darkness to guide me.

With my eyes narrowed at Hera, I whispered, "Kill them all," to my pack without a shred of remorse.

My wolves moved as one. Hunters in a pack. I'm not sure what I did to bind such powerful beasts to me or if it was the magick in my veins, but I was glad for them all the same. Especially when their sharp teeth found purchase in soft flesh, and before long, carnage unfolded.

Screams rented through the night. The sight and smell of blood made me dizzy, so I clutched my wolf's fur tighter.

The wolf I was riding knew what I needed.

Bastien.

I needed him to be okay.

A witch got passed the white wolf at my right, and she shot a spell in my direction. A jet of angry light as red as the braid hanging down her shoulder hurled toward me. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the pain that would surely come, but at the last second, my wolf reared back on his hind legs, knocking me off his back.

I landed on the cold ground with a thud, my lungs unable to pull a breath in, just as the bolt struck him in the muzzle.

"No!" I screamed, clambering to my feet as the wolf yelped and crumpled to the ground. He was hurt. I could feel it as if it was my own. The spell he was under was excruciating.

He'd taken the spell to protect me.

His brethren howled into the night air, but when they regrouped around me, there were only two left standing of my original five. The others lay as lifeless as my large gray wolf.

And even though they'd done their part, I was still outnumbered, and the coven leader still had Bastien.

This was not a battle I could win. Not without him.

My gaze found Hera's, and leveled a glare at her. Wishing I could set her on fire with a look. But whatever magick inside of me didn't leap forward.

"Pity," Hera shouted at me over the chaos. "I thought you'd make the right decision. But it looks like I get to be the first witch to kill a vampire. Which is why I'm the one who deserved my grandmother's power."

The sharp end of her dagger dug into Bastien's throat, and blood blossomed from the cut.

"No!" I shouted. My throat raw. My head throbbing.

The sight made my bloodstone go cold against my skin.

Bastien might've been willing to accept beheading to rid himself of me when we first met, but things had changed. He'd saved my life. He'd killed for me. He'd been kind to me when he didn't have to, and trusted me even though I'd been lying to him the whole time.

I may have thought I needed to kill Bastien to prevent war, but...now, I wasn't so sure.

I...didn't want him to die. I wanted him to live. I owed him that much for saving my life. And so much more than that.

I wasn't going to let the first man to ever care about me and show me any kindness die on my behalf.

The untamed feelings I had for him felt like the closest thing to love I'd ever felt.

My thoughts went to the choker around my neck. I'd accepted my fate a long time ago. I'd been a woman marked for death, ready to die in order to protect my family.

Was I ready to do the same to save Bastien?

Tears rushed to the corners of my eyes because I already knew the answer.

He'd said he wouldn't be able to control himself if I were threatened or harmed. If my death set his vengeance upon dark witches, then surely that would end the cold war and protect my sister Seraphina.

If I could die to save him, then I would.

Hera lifted the dagger to his throat once again, pushing deeper.

"Stop!" I shouted, my voice breaking on unshed tears. "Leave him alone."

With my eyes locked on his face, I began walking toward where they stood.

Hera paused as I came closer. Removing the wet dagger from Bastien's neck. "That's it, girl. Save your prince. You are no match for me."

I was incensed. I was angry. But...she was right. I was no match. I had no wand, only wolves and some unruly dark magick. I was just Claire. Useless in all the wrong ways. Except...as a sacrifice.

Meanwhile, Hera could do magick so powerful she was able to put a knife in Bastien's throat, and he was an ancient warrior vampire.

My intention and desire were strong, but what chance did I stand?

The clouds shifted overhead, and a thick shaft of moonlight illuminated the statue and the patch of snowy grass where she held Bastien, and I knew it was Diana's light shining down on him.

"I know I'm not your favored daughter," I whispered to the moon goddess, my eyes never leaving Bastien, "but give me the strength to do what is right," I pleaded.

Please. After I'm gone, release him from the spell and give him the power to seek vengeance in your name. Keep your favored daughters safe and use him as a weapon.

Both of the wolves joined me. My fingers brushing over their soft fur.

Hera beckoned me forward with a finger, and I struggled to find a steady breath. 

"You pray to the moon goddess even though you are clearly born with the dark gift. What a strange girl you are," Hera said.

I'd been called worse than strange. But it wasn't that which bothered me.

"I'm not a dark witch," I hissed back at her.

I might've been born with darkness inside me, but that didn't mean I couldn't save the people I cared about. I'd always been a bad apple, but even poisoned apples had their uses.

Her eyes glowered red beneath the hood of her robe. She didn't have a mouth full of sharp teeth like my family told me, but she looked like a demon incarnate. Hers was the face of real evil, and I knew she was capable of hurting me in ways I'd never experienced before.

But I tried not to focus on what she was going to do to me when I gave myself up and concentrated on Bastien.

Blood trickled down Bastien's neck. His skin was the color of cream, except for the bruises forming under his eyes. His cheeks hollow. Like the life was draining right out of him.

"It will be okay," I said, hoping he could hear me.

"All evidence to the contrary," Hera said, wiping the dagger on the sleeve of her robe. Then, with a titter of girlish laughter, she added, "Well, you won't be a dark witch for much longer."

I pressed my lips together and drew in a shuddering breath that did nothing to stop the tears from dampening my lashes.

"Let him go," I said with as much confidence as I could muster, "and you can have me."

😱😱😱😱

Claire is so quietly strong even in the face of death, and is always desperate to save those she cares about. I'm so proud of her for finally admitting that Bastien is one of those people.

But what comes next? 👀🫣