Kenna
Evander looks down at me and goes perfectly still.
“What was that?” I whisper. It could easily have been the fireworks the elder council in the coven ordered for the festivities.
Another Earth rattling boom shakes the underground temple to the point dust and bits of rocks tumble from the ceiling.
I don’t even have a second to take a breath before Evander rolls off me, pulls me to my feet, and grabs his shirt. He yanks it over my head and deftly buttons it, but his body is so still, and his head is cocked to the side as he listens to whatever is happening beyond the sanctuary of the cave.
His mark on my shoulder burns, and blood seeps into the white fabric of his shirt, which is large enough that it brushes over the top of my knees as he steps away and quickly puts on his pants. “Where is your cloak?”
“Evander, what is going on? It’s just the fireworks–”
“Listen, Kenna,” he whispers, slowly raising a hand to the ceiling. “Listen.”
I find it hard to swallow as I strain to hear anything over the pounding of my heart.
Another roaring boom shudders through the air. I meet Evander’s eyes as my heart races. I know he has better hearing and sharper senses than I do. He can shift into not only a wolf, but a fox, and has the gifts of both powers simultaneously. He must sense more than the thundering echoes of whatever's going on beyond the cave.
He reaches down and snatches my cloak, draping it over my shoulders. “I came here,” he explains in a low, gravely tone, “after spending two weeks canvassing the Roguelands for mystics who might have broken with the coven.”
“Mystics don’t break ties with the coven, Evander. That’s ridiculous!”
“Listen, please,” he rasps, clasping my shoulders. “I already told you I felt like something was wrong. Something felt off about how the couple performing the ritual was chosen. We are mates. We should never have been separated like the mystics foresaw. This is a trap.”
My blood runs cold as I slowly turn to look at the entrance of the tunnel.
“What–what do you think is happening out there?”
“We’re going to find out.”
I expected him to tell me to stay here, to wait for him to return. Maybe even to hide, but… he grabs my elbow and leads me toward the tunnel just as the strange fires burning around the cave go out, and we’re swallowed by darkness.
Evander doesn’t stop moving. Those threads that bind our hearts pull tight in a silent command to stay with him.
‘Mom,’ I say down the mind-link. ‘Where are you? What’s happening?’
We reach the steps leading out of the ancient temple, Evander leading me through pitch dark, he says, “I can’t mind-link with either of my parents right now.”
“I just tried reaching my mom–”
“I need you to be prepared for what we’re—”
Something–someone–grabs my hair and yanks me backward so violently I cry out in pain. Evander whirls, his eyes glowing in the dark–the only source of light–and shifts.
But I’m being dragged by my hair, and I can’t get my feet back underneath me. There’s a heavy feeling in the air, like all of the oxygen has been sucked from the corridor, and it’s pressing down on my powers.
I reach up and grip the wrists of my assailants, trying to force my powers to the surface.
Evander lunges in his wolf form; the thick, golden undercoat on his belly brushes over the top of my head, and then a shriek echoes through the darkened corridor. The shriek gutters with what can only be blood, and then the grip on my hair slackens to the point I can untangle myself and get back on my feet.
I barely turn around to look down before Evander is nudging me away, leaning into me so I have to grab his fur to prevent being knocked over.
The last thing I see before climbing onto his back, before he takes off at the speed of light, is a faint shimmer of opal and moonstone in the shape of a sightless, mouthless face.
A mystics mask.
Evander just killed a mystic.
A mystic that was trying to take me.
Oh, my Goddess–
Evander breaches the entrance to the temple, and suddenly we are out in the open, in the returning moonlight, and its chaos.
I look up and see bright, shimmering light rebounding off the invisible wards my father put around Moonrise like a large dome. Fractals of light fall down onto the lake like embers, sizzling on the water's surface.
Moonrise is being attacked. ‘Get me to the castle, now!’ I shout, or better, scream down our bond.
Evander sprints at his full strength down the side of the mountain while I hold on for dear life. My dad is in the Roguelands with the armies preparing to go to war with the Draven Coven once their stronghold is found. My mom would have been overseeing the festivities for the Rite as planned, but I can’t reach here. The mind-link between us is empty and silent.
Something is terribly wrong, and I can’t focus. A new power within me is coming to the surface, something I’ve never felt before–or I have, but not like this. This feeling makes me want to claw my way out of my skin.
Evander skirts the edge of the lake, weaving between the panicked crowd of festival goers as they run for any kind of cover they can find.
But then I feel a shift in the air. The cold taste of metal fills my mouth, and a shudder ghosts over us, followed by a cracking boom that pierces the air.
And the wards.
Fire fills my vision as the wards come down, and Moonrise is left totally, utterly out in the open.
We reach the city center just as warriors begin to spill from every building after desperate attempts to get everyone inside the shops and markets that line the numerous squares.
‘Go to the castle. Shift into your shadow. Wait for me there,’ Evander says into my mind as he skids to a stop.
I’m off his back in an instant and sprinting toward the steps that lead up to the castle–my home–situated in the very center of the city.
“EVERYONE INSIDE!” I shout as I run past people hurrying through the square. Warriors brush past me, but I don’t stop to ask where the queen is.
I reach the castle and storm inside, coming to a stop in the front foyer where the massive, golden staircase funnels up nearly five stories.
Maids rush back and forth. A group of them, teary eyed, slides to a stop when they see me. “Go, go hide. Now!” I shout, unclasping my cloak. “Go down to the tunnels and get to the lake, to the docks.”
“Princess Kenna, you must come with us!”
“I can’t leave. Where is my mother?”
“She isn’t here,” one of the maids says, her voice breaking over the words. “She was at the lake with Lady Amanda–”
“Go. Go now,” I tell them hoarsely. “Get out of the castle. We are under attack.”
They rush back into the shadowed corridors leading off the foyer as I run up the stairs. The only solace I have is that my dad is well aware someone has broken through his wards. Any second now, he will be here. Any second….
A blast knocks me flat on the ground. The stained glass windows that stretch all the way to the highest point of the ceiling at my back explode in a shower of glass. I cover my neck, breathing rapidly, willing my powers to take hold, but I’m drained, somehow.
It’s the eclipse. My powers haven’t returned to their full force. Whoever is attacking right now is taking full advantage of…. Wait.
Wait a minute. This is what Evander was talking about. He’s right.
Neither of us should have been called to do the Rite separately. That’s insane. We’re mates.
But separated…
My breath hitches in my throat as I hurry to my feet and sprint down the hallway toward my mom’s office, to the magic mirror.
Separated. They–-whoever is attacking us–wanted me and Evander separated tonight during the eclipse. My powers were tamped down, practically useless, and Evander wouldn’t have been there to protect me if we were apart.
Evander realized that. This is why he left. He went to find someone who could explain why he’d been chosen but I hadn’t, and when I’d then been chosen….
“Oh, my Goddess! What the fuck is going on!” I murmur as I shove through the door to Mom’s office. The curse word feels surprisingly good on my tongue.
But I hear lifted, furious voices echoing from the shattered foyer as I slip into the room and shut the door behind me, locking it tight. I shout down the mind-link to my dad.
Nothing.
My parents are radio silent as I turn toward the mirror and try to use my powers to ignite the strange forces within.
But all I can see is my own reflection.
I’m starting to panic now. My powers just won’t work. This shouldn’t be happening, even with the eclipse. The eclipse is over now, for Goddess’ sake!
“Find the fucking princess. We need her alive!” someone shouts from down the hall, followed by hurried footsteps.
I wring my hands and squeeze my eyes shut, trying to pull my shadow around me, but nothing happens.
No, no, no, no–
Someone slams themself against the door so hard the hinges whine in protest.
“Come on,” I whisper, shaking out my hands. “Come on….”
The door shatters in a burst of splintered wood and glass.
Four burly, violent looking men enter the office. They don’t have to look hard to find me. I’m standing in the open in nothing but a cloak and Evander’s shirt, my bare toe curling into the carpet.
“Well, look what we have here,” their leader, a middle-aged man with wiry brown hair and a long, unkempt beard says as he edges into the room. “The pretty little princess all by herself.”
“How convenient,” one of his companions drawls, giving me a wicked smile.
I don’t move. I don’t say a word as they step closer to me.
“Ha, she’s not as powerful as we were told, huh? Look at her. Cowering like a little doe.”
A soft, communal chuckle lights through the air between the men.
Movement in the doorway behind them catches my attention, but I don’t let it show. Two wolves are hiding in the shadows, inching toward the men. They have no idea what’s currently behind them…
“Well, you found me. Shucks.” I give the men a sparkling grin and clap my hands together. “What now? Where to next? I’m growing bored.”
The leader gives me a quizzical look.
One of his men steps forward, licking his lips. “We were told to bring her in alive, right? Gabriel didn’t say anything about what kind of shape she’d be in, though. Why don’t we have a little fun with her first?”
“I’ll go first,” another of them growls.
But behind them in the shadowed corridor, Evander, in wolf form, bares his teeth. The wolf beside is familiar somehow, but I can’t quite place him.
It’s only when he steps into the light spilling from the open door that I see his startling blue eyes.
‘Sydney, where is my mom?’
‘She’s not in Moonrise. She and Amanda are gone. We don’t know where.’
My blood runs cold.
‘My dad?’
As if on cue, the castle shudders as power rips through the sky above us. All the little trinkets in my mom’s bookcase tremble. The men look around nervously.
“Get her in silver cuffs. We need to go before the king gets here.”
“He’s already here!” one of the men shouts. “Did you not feel that–”
A snarl snakes from the corridor, and the men turn as Sydney and Evander stalk into the office, teeth bared and gleaming.
I exhale, glad they’ve finally revealed themselves.
‘Close your eyes,’ Evander says down the bond, so I do, but I can still hear them tearing those men to ribbons in front of me.
When I open my eyes again, Evander and Sydney are coated in blood that doesn’t belong to them, and there’s not much left of the men.
‘We need to get to your father. He’s here, fighting alongside the warriors.’ Sydney eyes me for damage before turning and trotting out of the room.
Evander, however, stays.
“My powers haven’t come back,” I tell him out loud as I carefully walk across the bloody carpet in his direction. I run my hand through the fur over his neck, and his mark on my shoulder burns with sudden longing.
I desperately wish we’d had more time together tonight.
Now, I have no idea what the rest of the night will hold.
‘Your mom’s been taken, Kenna. She went willingly with Gabriel in exchange for the attack to end. We need to go.’
‘They’re still attacking–’
‘They’re hunting for you. Your dad is injured, but he was able to get here–’
‘How was he injured?’
Evander looks into my eyes. He’s such a large wolf–taller than me standing, which is incredible. ‘The Draven Coven is attacking the major kingdoms. The Roguelands are at war. Crescent Falls…’
I blink, my hands trembling as my powers finally start to edge to the surface. Anger, grief, and worry converge into something enormously powerful.
And new.
A shredded sound echoes through my ears. My vision temporarily goes dark, and I blink rapidly to clear it.
But when I look down at my hands I find… paws.
Paws of the darkest, most depthless type of black.
I look at Evander in shock, and I swear, beyond the worry in his own eyes, pride shines there.
I just shifted, and it didn’t hurt.
It felt good.