AVA
I wasn’t looking forward to this conversation with Oscar.
I knew what the endgame for the night was.
Somehow, at midnight, I needed to (eww) be in front of Elijah letting him sink his disgusting teeth
into my neck. At the same time, I now knew that Artemis needed to still be unconscious, so the mark
from Elijah doesn’t stick.
But I also need to somehow sneak up on him but not have him catch me whilst Artemis is
unconscious… this was starting to feel impossible.
“We need to find him, we need to know where he is going to be at midnight and make sure we’re
there. I need to be there the second the moon is at its peak.”
I paused, searching Oscar’s eyes. “I… he…” I let my eyes fall closed. Oscar wasn’t going to like this
bit. “He has to think he’s going to win. He has to think he’s going to get… me.”
What I wasn’t going to tell him… is that Elijah has to actually bite me for this to work. The concept
made me feel sick to my stomach, but it was true. His teeth actually need to sink into my neck on top
of Callum and Oscar’s marks; where a regular, single mate mark would go.
The worst part… if I was correctly reading between the lines of what Selene both was and wasn’t
telling me, Callum and Oscar needed to see it happen.
Seeing that would destroy them. If the positions were reversed, I don’t think I could survive it. It was
agony just thinking about it.
And somehow they would have to watch… and make sure they don’t interfere until the time is exactly
right.
OSCAR
What Ava wasn’t telling me explicitly… is that Elijah actually needs to bite her at midnight, and we
have to do whatever we can to make sure it doesn’t take. If he doesn’t bite her… we won’t be able to
get him in the right place at the right time to kill him. But that means Artemis needs to stay
unconscious until this is all dealt with.
That was a fact I needed not to give Callum. If I told Callum that Ava is going to let Elijah bite her,
well. He’d do whatever he could to stop it.
My prophecies had made it very clear that I’d have a choice to make tonight. For a choice to be
prophesied by a goddess… let’s be honest, it’s going to be a bad one. I just had to hope that I would
make the right one when the time comes.
I took Ava’s hands, pulling her down to sit on a fallen log next to me. “What do we do first?”
She looked up to the sky, watching the clouds move over the moon. “The timing of the moon isn’t a
one hundred percent certainty. I need to be in front of him when the moon is at peak brightness. That
could be when it’s full, but if this storm doesn’t clear in time, it might be slightly earlier or later.”
“So we need to be at the edge of the clearing hiding and ready before midnight?”
She nodded, biting her lip. “I think we need to find sage.”
“Sage? Why?”
“Without Artemis, I can’t hide my scent. Elijah can’t find me, I have to find him.”
I nodded. “Okay, so we need to find a rogue camp. I know you hate sitting a fight out, little one, but
please. We’ll find a camp, I’ll take the warriors and clear it out, leaving Jeremiah with you. All the
camps have sage, we can stay there for protection, and once we’re ready to make our move, we can
take some of it with us.”
The look on her face said she hated the idea, but she didn’t have a choice, not this time.
“Fine,” she grumbled. “I hate this, but let’s do this.”
Once we’d dealt with the rogues and were as safe as possible, we all sat in the middle of the circle to
hash out a plan. I pulled Ava to sit on my lap, her head buried in my chest. She started to relax against
me, some of the tension in her body dissipating at the sound of my heart.
“I love you, Ava,” I whispered, kissing my mark on her neck.
CALLUM
I was frozen. I had no idea what to do or how to do it.
My strength, my ability, all of it, was gone.
I was watching the warriors I’d brought with me ripping apart the witches’ camp, not really knowing
what to do with myself. I felt useless.
I turned my back on the camp whilst the warriors were finishing up, walking towards a tree to use as a
punching bag instead.
My first punch was barely a glancing blow, but the second… Even without Ares at the forefront of my
mind, the tree still split.
I’d been staring at the tree for what felt like an eternity when the ethereal voice of Selene moved
through my mind. “You are more than just your wolf, my son. Ares is extraordinary, yes, but Callum
Joseph Lewis is also extraordinary.”
“But what do I do? How can I be what Ava needs without Ares?”
“My son… Ava needs Callum tonight, not just Ares. You are special, you are needed, you are enough.
Ares will have his part to play in this tale, but now, the stage is yours, young King.”
She hummed for a moment, before continuing. “Your battles are fierce and your trials long, my King.
But her Protector never falters in his fight, you’ll rise above the blood and flame, to save her soul.”
With that, she disappeared.
She does like an unanswered question, does Selene.