Page 111 of Marked By Moonlight

Hands engulf my body, and I feel myself being carried, but I have no idea by whom. No idea if it’s Ambrose or…

Nyx.

I can smell him. A distinct metallic scent invades my nostrils. He smells like blood.

My eyes burn open as my shift completes, but it’s too late. I flail in his arms, but his grip doesn’t loosen on me. I don’t know how Nyx is strong enough to carry me when I’m in my wolf form, and he’s still in his human body. But his grip doesn’t loosen ashe carries me off the stage and into the forest behind it. I look behind us, trying to find Ambrose, Emeric, or…Rowena.

I gasp as I spot her lifeless body lying on the ground in a puddle of blood.

“She’s dead,”Nyx says.

“NO! Put me down!”I scream in my head, but I’m not sure if he can hear me. I fight harder to get free. She can’t be dead, she can’t be.

“You can’t save her. You can save Kael. You can save Ambrose. You can save the rest of your pathetic pack, but you can’t save her,” he says aloud.

I sob, but it comes out a howl in my wolf form.

Nyx doesn’t release his hold on me as I scream and scream, each scream tearing through my body like a hurricane. I sob, and scream, and flail as heartbreak spills through my body. With each sob, I feel myself shrinking, getting smaller and smaller, my senses lessening until I begin to shiver from the cool air hitting my human skin once again.

Nyx cradles my naked body against his chest as he runs effortlessly through the forest. I don’t know where he’s taking me, and I don’t have the strength to fight him. Time once again escapes me. I don’t know how long he runs, just that time stretches infinitely as he does. Eventually, he stops and puts me down on the ground.

I shiver as more cold air hits my naked skin.

“You killed Rowena, didn’t you?” I ask, my throat scratchy and my eyes stained with tears as I stare at the ground.

“It doesn’t matter who killed her.”

I look up at him, finally seeing who he really is. His mouth is covered in blood, and his fangs are sharper than any other wolf shifter. He’s not just a wolf shifter…

“You’re a vampire.”

He nods.

“How? How are you part vampire, part shifter?”

“The same way your mate is part shifter, part witch.”

“What?”

He chuckles. “You really are a fool. I’m almost not sure it was worth rescuing you.”

“You didn’t rescue me.”

“I sure as hell did. If I had let you continue with that little ceremony of yours, you’d be dead by now.”

“No, I would have broken the curse.”

He scoffs. “No, you wouldn’t have. But we’ll have to agree to disagree. For now, I want you to start telling me the truth. What do you really know about breaking the curse?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I know who you are, Lumi. I know you’re part of the Wintermoon wolves. I know you’re the snow wolf that the seers talk about. And I know you spoke with Thalia. I know you have more pieces of the prophecy than you’ve let on. I have a feeling it’s a lot more complicated, and there are a lot more stipulations than what the ceremony was about. So if you want me to keep being nice to you, then start talking.”

Through tear-stained eyes, I look at him directly. I know Thalia said that only seers receive parts of the prophecy. That my dreams can’t be prophecy, but maybe she’s wrong. That those who are part of the prophecy also receive pieces. The way that Nyx is looking at me, I know he believes it’s possible.

He’s a vampire and a wolf shifter. If what he speaks is true, Ambrose is a wolf shifter and witch. There is nothing that isn’t impossible.

“Yes, I have pieces of the prophecy that no one else knows. But I’ll never tell you.”

He smirks, his eyes darkening. “We’ll see about that. I think you’ll change your mind when you’ve been mine for a few months.”

“I’ll never be yours.”

“You already are,” he says as he plunges his fangs over the spot on my neck where Ambrose started to mark me.