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  Soleil wiped the blood off her sword with the bottom of her shirt. She ripped the bloody part off and handed it to Gessilyn. “In case you need some more of her blood.”

  Gessilyn’s eyes widened. “But you’ll be back at Moonhaven, won’t you?”

  Soleil shook her head. “I have to run. Now that I’ve used my sword, I have a target on my back.”

  I pulled Victoria into my arms and rose. “But you’ll be back, right? You’re part of our pack—our family.”

  Her eyes shone with tears. “I’ll try. I won’t take the chance that I’ll be putting you all in danger just by sticking around. You guys are my first family, ever. Thank you for everything.” She glanced down at Victoria, her wings sprouted out, and she breathed essence onto her.

  Victoria’s mouth opened. The purple mist twisted its way into her mouth. Victoria’s eyes opened and she gasped for air.

  Soleil kissed her cheek. “Goodbye, my friend.” Then she disappeared into thin air.

  Chapter 32

  Victoria

  I squirmed out of Toby’s hold and stood. “What just happened?”

  Toby stared at the place Soleil had just stood. “She defeated Azure.” He turned to me, his face pale.

  Fear tore through me. “Did her superiors get her?”

  He shook his head. “She’s going into hiding. Said she didn’t want to put us in danger.”

  I leaned against him, and he wrapped his arms around me. What would we do without Soleil? Our pack would never be the same without her.

  Bright lights flashed around the periphery.

  Gessilyn and her family shouted in Icelandic at the remaining witches, sending them flying backwards. They recovered, shouted back, and sent our friends to the ground.

  I grabbed Toby’s knife, clutched both his and mine, and ran toward the nearest witch. I dug both blades into her chest and threw myself against her. We both flew to the ground. Her head hit a rock. Anger flashed across her face, and with it, her eyes shone bright blue. She yelled out. I pulled out both knives and plunged them into her chest again. And again. And again. It was all for Soleil. Blood spattered and sprayed, getting all over me. I didn’t care.

  Her eyes closed and her head turned to the side. I continued stabbing her, rage and heartbreak pulsating through me.

  Someone pulled me off the witch. I swung the knives, trying to kill her more.

  “She’s dead.” Toby wrapped his arms around me.

  I pulled away from him, screaming, and fixed my gaze on the next witch who needed killing. She turned to me, her eyes wide. I crossed the blades on her scrawny neck, one over the other like a pair of scissors, and ripped them in opposite directions. Flesh parted, blood spurted, and she went down fast. The next one clawed at me, scratching me with her long, sharp nails. The wounds burned. I shoved her against a tree and stabbed her right through the heart with such power that she remained hanging on the tree, dead, when I let go of the handle. I still had one knife, so I kept going.

  My best friend wouldn’t return home with us. It was their fault. They would all pay.

  A hand rested on my shoulder. “Come on,” Toby said. “Let’s go home.”

  “Not until they’re all dead.”

  “They are.”

  I reached for the knife that was pinning the last witch I had killed to the tree and yanked it out. She fell and landed with a thud. I stepped away and looked around. All of Azure’s evil witches lay on the ground, lifeless. Dragons flew into the sky. Vampires walked back to the castle. Werewolves stumbled toward us. Marguerite and Alrekur lowered themselves to the ground, their electricity waning.

  “How did the other witches die?” I asked.

  “We used a spell,” Gessilyn said. “Once Azure died, it was easy. Their strength was tethered to her.”

  My chest constricted. Soleil had paid the price. Tears stung my eyes.

  The vampire king and queen made their way over to us. Marguerite placed her hand on my shoulder. “We’re heading back to the castle for some nourishment. Your pack is more than welcome to join us.” She turned to Gessilyn. “And of course, so are you and your family.”

  I leaned against Toby, unable to answer. My stomach turned at the thought of food. I wasn’t sure my appetite would ever return.

  We all trudged through the woods without speaking. My heart grew heavier by the moment. It had been hard enough when Soleil had left to mourn Brick’s death, and that had only been for a short while. I could feel it in my bones—this was different. Maybe permanent. What if her superiors killed her?

  I shuddered at the thought. Toby tightened his arm around my shoulders. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to. We were both thinking the same thing.

  The castle came into view. As we neared, guards opened the doors for us. We entered with the king and queen. Vampires shot us glares, but said nothing. What could they do? Hurt the king and queen’s friends in front of them?

  Marguerite and Alrekur led us to a dining hall. It was different from the banquet hall where they’d helped us celebrate our marriage. It reminded me of a fancy restaurant.

  Once we were seated, servants came over and welcomed us. They poured blood for the vampires and wine for the rest of us. I didn’t reach for mine. The servants brought out plates of food—much fancier than what we usually ate. Still, I didn’t care.

  Toby leaned over. “Are you going to eat?”

  I shook my head.

  He gave me a sympathetic glance. “My appetite is gone, too. But we should eat, sweetness. We need our strength.”

  My only response was to groan.

  “Soleil would want us to take care of ourselves.”

  I glared at him. “Don’t talk like she’s dead! She’s older than the pharaohs. She knows what she’s doing.”

  “You’re right. I only meant that—”

  “I know what you meant. I’m sorry I snapped at you.” I sighed.

  “Don’t worry about it.” He put his arm around me. “Just try to eat. For me? For Soleil?”

  “You’re not going to give up, are you?”

  He shook his head.

  I glanced at the plate. It was a small roasted fowl with vegetables and a thin pasta, all covered in a light creamy sauce. Under any other circumstances, it would’ve made my mouth water, and I’d have happily dug in. I reached for the fork and scooped up some creamy asparagus. It tasted like nothing.

  “Eat up,” Marguerite encouraged. “It’ll replenish your strength.”

  “Thanks. It’s delicious.” I forced a smile and took a bite of the pasta. It too had no taste.

  “Eat the duck. You won’t find anything like it anywhere else, I assure you.”

  Taking a deep breath, I dug into the roasted duck and took a bite.

  Marguerite again smiled and then turned back to Alrekur and their daughter, Eylin.

  The rest of the meal went by in a blur of tasteless food and wine. Although, I did seem to have gained my strength back rather quickly. Far too fast for it to be from just eating. I turned to Toby. “Did they put something in here?”

  He gave a little nod. “They have all kinds of concoctions for restoring energy. Typically, it’s in their fortified blood from the human volunteers, but they always keep other stuff on hand for non-vampire visitors. They get a lot of dragons passing through, and of course the occasional witch and werewolf.”

  “Right.”

  Once everyone was done eating and stragglers had stopped coming in, Gessilyn turned to us. “I’m going to do the spell on the stone while we’re here. Drawing magic from the enchanted forest will help. Do you want to come with me?”

  I nodded, although breaking the curse of the moon seemed so petty given what Soleil had risked for it. But for her sake, I would see it through. There was no way I could let her have risked everything for nothing.

  Our pack followed Gessilyn’s family back outside. Vampires glared at us and a few even hissed as we made our way through the hallways. They hated witches eve
ry bit as much as they hated werewolves. The only thing keeping them from attacking was the royal edict protecting everyone who entered the Fyrsturae castle. All were assumed to be friendly until proven otherwise.

  The guards opened the doors for us. Gessilyn led us back into the woods and stopped in an opening where the moonlight shone down and cast a gentle glow on everything.

  “Sit in a circle around me. Then link your arms through the ones next to you, and clasp your own hands.”

  We followed the directions without saying a word. Even her relatives joined us in the circle. Gessilyn sprinkled some dust around the circle and whispered blessings. The moon’s glow warmed my skin and something—magic from the forest?—made my insides tingle. She took one vial of Azure’s blood and held it up high next to the wolf essence stone.

  The piece of the stone in my arm heated to the point that it was almost unbearable. I gritted my teeth and focused on Gessilyn’s soothing voice.

  “Close your eyes.”

  We did, and I held the image of the stone in my mind, using that to focus on instead of the ever-heating piece stuck in my flesh.

  As I would expect, a slight breeze picked up. The scent of something sweet filled the air, whipping around us. Gessilyn’s voice grew louder as she spoke in a multitude of languages. A light shone, making it seem like noon from behind my closed eyelids.

  “Don’t look,” Gessilyn instructed.

  That wasn’t a problem. What was difficult, however, was that the light was so bright I wanted to cover my eyes. But I couldn’t risk breaking the circle by unclasping my hands and unlinking my arms from Toby or Stella on either side of me.

  The brightness grew and the warmth on my skin increased. Just as I thought I couldn’t bear it any longer, it all faded.

  “Open your eyes,” Gessilyn commanded. “But don’t unlink.”

  I forced my eyes open and shivered as the heat all but disappeared and the cool night air blew around us. My eyes adjusted to the darkness, and I glanced around. Everyone else seemed as dazed as I felt.

  Had the curse been broken?

  Gessilyn held the wolf essence stone, which now glowed a pale blue rather than the darker blue and red it usually did.

  Could we actually shift at will now? Without the stone?

  A flurry of other questions raced through my mind as I gazed upon the stone that had caused us all so much trouble.

  Gessilyn just stood there, holding the stone and not saying anything. Everyone else had to be as anxious as I was to find out if it had worked, but we all waited.

  “Unlink,” she finally said.

  I unclasped my hands and pulled them closer to me.

  “Did it work?” Toby asked.

  Gessilyn held the stone toward him, studying it. “There’s only one way to find out.”

  Chapter 33

  Toby

  We all rose to our feet. My entire body ached. Hopefully, from the curse breaking.

  “Try to shift.” Gessilyn held up the stone above her head and glanced around at us eagerly.

  My heart raced. Was this really happening? Were we finally able to shift apart from the full moon?

  The pack scattered. I took Victoria’s hand and we went to a private area a little ways away and disrobed.

  I held her close and kissed the top of her head.

  She kissed my cheek. “I hope this works. I’ve shifted so much lately, I think my wolf is growing tired.”

  “Mine is eager to run free.” I recognized my aches as the early signs of my wolf clawing his way out. I took Victoria’s hand in mine and slid my fingers between hers. “Are you ready? Let’s do this at the same time.”

  She squeezed my hand. “I’m ready.”

  We stepped apart and let go of our hands. Her bones began popping right away. I closed my eyes and called to my wolf. He clawed and howled inside, but not a single one of my bones popped. No fur tried to slice through.

  Come on, I urged silently. We can do this.

  He howled and clawed, but again, nothing else happened. Nothing more than the annoying aches in my muscles and joints.

  The curse is broken. We can shift at will now.

  Except that we couldn’t.

  Crushing disappointment coursed through me. I opened my eyes.

  Victoria had shifted.

  She rose to all-fours and howled toward the night sky.

  I fell to my knees and closed my eyes again. Let’s do this. Come on.

  Nothing. Even my aches were fading away. I clenched my fists and tried to will the shift.

  It didn’t work.

  I opened my eyes. Victoria, in wolf form, stood waiting.

  “It’s not working for me.” I hated admitting defeat, but there was no other choice. Maybe the curse just couldn’t break. I pulled my clothes back on and gestured toward where the witches were waiting for us. “Come on.”

  She whined.

  “I know.” I headed back, and she walked in step with me.

  Back where we had circled together, some of the other pack members had already returned—in human form. So far, it appeared that Victoria was the only one who could shift at will.

  “What happened?” I asked Gessilyn. “Can you tell?”

  “Did it break only for the girls?” Bobby asked.

  Laura walked over. “No.”

  We all stared at Gessilyn.

  “Why can she shift, but we can’t?” Bobby demanded.

  “She’s been shifting all along,” Jet snapped.

  “Not all along.” Bobby glared at him.

  “Okay, enough.” I stepped between them and then turned to Gessilyn. “Bobby does bring up a good point. Why is it Victoria can shift when the rest of us can’t?”

  “She has a piece of the stone lodged in her arm, right?” Gessilyn asked.

  I nodded. “That’s what we think.”

  Gessilyn held the stone up in the air and looked at it behind the moon. “I have an idea, but I’m going to need to go back to the castle.”

  “Great, an idea,” Jet muttered.

  “Knock it off.” I narrowed my eyes at him.

  Gessilyn tucked the stone into a pocket. “You guys stay out here with Victoria. I don’t want her in the castle in wolf form, and I don’t want her out here alone. I’ll be back, but this might take a little while. Stay here.”

  “We will.” I glanced over at the rest of the pack. “Right?”

  Everyone grumbled their agreement.

  Gessilyn and her family headed back to the castle.

  “What now?” Jet asked.

  “We wait.” I sat and stroked Victoria’s head.

  Jet grumbled. “I’m going in to find Ziamara and Sebastian. I feel like I haven’t seen them in ages. Call me when Gessilyn comes back.”

  “Why not just bring them out here?” I asked. “There’s no danger. Not anymore.”

  “Maybe.” He stormed toward the castle.

  Victoria whined and nudged her head against my side.

  “He’s just upset about the curse.”

  The others sat near me and we discussed the possibilities—whether we would be able to shift at will or not.

  “We have to hold onto hope,” I said. “The fact that Victoria can turn at will gives us that much. It’s just a matter of figuring out how.”

  “Are we going to inject ourselves with shards of the stone?” Bobby asked. “We’ll be just like pet dogs with their chips.”

  “Would that be so bad?” I countered. “At least we’d be able to shift when we want.”

  Bobby shrugged but didn’t say anything.

  We sat in silence. The moon moved lower and lower into the sky until the darkness faded into the pinks, purples, and oranges of a sunrise.

  “How long are we supposed to stay here?” Bobby asked.

  “Until Gessilyn returns.”

  “I’m going to sleep.” He scooted over to a tree, leaned against it, and closed his eyes.

  Footsteps sounded in the distance. My
hopes didn’t even rise. Though I tried to hide it from the others, I was just as discouraged as they were. If Gessilyn couldn’t fix the curse this time, I wasn’t going to ask her to help with it ever again.

  Jet, Ziamara, and Sebastian appeared from behind some trees. Sebastian, in Jet’s arms, waved at us and squirmed to get down. Jet set him on the ground, and he ran around hugging us all.

  “Gessilyn isn’t back?” Jet asked.

  I shook my head. “We’re still waiting.”

  “She’ll figure it out.” Ziamara sat on the other side of Victoria. “The fact that Victoria can shift shows that much.”

  Laura scooted over and pulled Sebastian onto her lap. “Even if she can’t, it isn’t all that bad. We’re used to shifting at the full moon. It’s something we can count on, and we’ll always know when other werewolves will shift.”

  Ziamara craned her neck, looking at someone behind us. “Gessilyn’s here.”

  Gessilyn strolled over, carrying a black velvet satchel. The contents clinked together inside. She grinned. “I think we’ve finally found the missing piece of the puzzle.”

  I jumped to my feet. “What?”

  We all gathered around as she loosened the string on the little bag. The opening grew, and she cupped the satchel in her palms. Rings and necklaces with small light blue stones sat in a pile.

  “With the help of my family, we managed to shatter the stone. If each of you wear a piece of jewelry, you should be able to shift whenever you want. I also have another pile of stones to share with the other packs. Hopefully, there’s enough to go around. I can’t pull the magic from the stones to use on anything else. At least we know from Victoria’s example that only a tiny shard of the stone is necessary for its magic to work, because as your pack expands you’ll need to divide the stones set in this jewelry for the new members. I’m sure I can devise a way to magically insert a tiny piece of stone into your bodies, so you never need to worry about someone losing the jewelry or having it taken from them. But these will do for now. And I’ll look into what we can do for future generations. Perhaps a moon blessing at birth like the royal vampires have for the sun.”