“Tell me you got my letter,” I whispered into her hair. “Tell me you understand why I have to do this.”

  Sera tightened her hold on me. “No, I didn’t get your letter.”

  “Oh, Sera.” I choked on a sob, unable to let her go. “Did she bring you here? Did she hurt you? Tell me she didn’t hurt you.”

  Sera cradled the back of my head. “Clairey.” Her voice broke around the old nickname. “I’ve been with you the whole time.” She dropped her voice. “As your wolf.”

  A pit opened beneath my feet, and my stomach dropped with it. Free-falling past every single memory I had of my wolves. The graveyard. The spark of magick in their fur. The human-like emotion in their eyes. And, finally, what Gorrath had said. The moonstones.

  Finally, I pulled back and found that Sera was wearing the necklace she’d brought to me. She’d been trying to tell me the whole time, but I hadn’t been able to understand. A thousand questions wormed their way into my mind. How did this happen? Did Mama do this to her? But they all died on my tongue when Mama opened her mouth.

  “I never should’ve sent you to the capital with your sister! I knew you’d do something stupid! You could never follow the simplest of instructions.”

  She couldn’t help herself. Even now. Even on her knees. The hate spewed out of her.

  Defiant, Sera pulled a giant opalescent gem from her skirt pocket. It was the same goose egg-sized stone that Shayla had been wearing.

  “Did you catch Shayla?” Bastien asked Tyson.

  Tyson nodded. “We ran her down, alright.” He tossed the severed head of a massive black wolf on the ground. It landed with a thud and a splatter of blood. Sera didn’t even flinch at the sight of it. She kept her attention fixed on Mama. The moonstone clutched in her grip.

  “I was headed back home, following every instruction you gave me. And on my way back home, when I stopped for the night at the Veraleese Inn, one of Shayla’s werewolves attacked me. The ones you sent for!” she screamed, shaking the moonstone.

  “Oh, Sera,” I murmured, my hand covering my mouth. I felt like I knew where this was going. And it wasn’t a place I was going to like.

  “Without a moonstone, I couldn’t control the shifting. I got stuck in my wolf skin.” The rage was flowing through her now. And I found it was flowing through me as well.

  “I followed them home. Listened to what you had planned. And made a decision.” Her brown eyes found mine. “I went to find my sister.”

  “That was you in the woods, wasn’t it? Outside the Kemps?”

  "Yeah," she confirmed. "I tracked your scent."

  "That’s impressive," I managed, though the words tasted bitter. I wanted to praise her, to remind her that even now, she was extraordinary. But the truth of her situation made the compliment feel hollow. “Who were the other wolves? The ones who died?”

  Sera gave me a sad smile. “Those were your familiars. Nice wolves.”

  I covered my mouth. The one who’d let me climb on his back? That was my familiar? And he’d died for me? “And what about the brown one?” I asked, looking around for his familiar shape. “Is he a werewolf too?”

  Sera waved someone forward. And from the crowd, Alec appeared. Red-brown eyes. Charming smile. He was leaner and more wiry. My mouth dropped. I pulled him into a hug. “I thought you were dead.”

  “I never wanted you to worry about me.”

  Memories of my brown wolf drifted through my mind. Especially him watching me when I explored other uses for Gorrath’s horn. Eyes narrowing, I pulled back and smacked his shoulder. “You were my brown wolf. The whole time? The whole time?”

  He nodded sheepishly. “Yeah. I’m sorry about that. If you want to banish me, go ahead.”

  “I’m still considering it,” Bastien remarked from over my shoulder.

  “I’m not going to banish you.” I smacked his shoulder once again for good measure. “But you’re not allowed in my bedchamber anymore.”

  “I understand.”

  I hugged him again. And Sera. Pulling them both into a hug. I had never been alone. Never. These two had been with me, even when they couldn’t say anything. They’d protected me. Fought with me. They’d been with me every step of the way.

  We barely had a second to breathe before Mama ruined it. “Your sister has poisoned your mind.”

  Her lips were stained black, and I had no idea how she hadn’t succumbed to the rot yet.

  Sera took a step closer to where Mama was kneeling in the mud. “No, Mama,” she declared. The anger and ache in her voice was like a wound being torn open. “The only one who poisoned me was you.”

  Mama looked at Sera, not with love, not with sorrow, but like she was something ruined. I knew that look. I had spent my entire life drowning beneath it. I just never imagined Sera would have to endure it, too. She spent her life being groomed to become the perfect weapon. And now, she had magick that she’d never asked for.

  “What did I ever do to deserve a daughter so reckless?” Mama spat. “Fornicating with beasts. Drinking herself senseless? If you were attacked, it was because of your own foolishness. Not mine.”

  Sera took another careful step closer, her hands trembling at her sides, but the movement only made Mama’s lip curl.

  “After everything I’ve given you,” Mama said. “Everything I sacrificed. And for what? For you to do the same stupid thing over and over again.”

  I met Sera’s gaze, and a silent understanding passed between us. It was time to end this. Sera transformed back into the white wolf. As soon as her paws hit the ground, she tackled Mama to the ground. Growling in her face. Natalia had moved out of the way just in time. She gave me a nod of approval as I dropped to my knees beside my mother and stared into her cold, emotionless eyes.

  “Choke on your hate.” I slid the dagger across her throat and opened it. Putrid black liquid and warm red blood spilled out. There was a moment when she looked stunned. As if she hadn’t truly believed I would do it. As if she had convinced herself, even now, that she was still in control.

  I watched the light leave her eyes. I watched her take her last breath. And I felt nothing. No remorse. No grief. Nothing except relief that it was done.

  I hugged Sera’s furry neck, breathing in her scent. For the first time in our lives, we were truly free.

  Chapter 44

  Avènement

  BASTIEN

  Claire didn’t need to swing a sword to be brave. She didn’t need to master spells or command her powers completely. Her courage wasn’t for battlefield glory or for the welcome waiting at home.

  She was courageous for me, for us, for everyone we cared for. Her quiet strength ignited courage in others. Because of Claire, the Prideaux coven escaped a fanatic’s rule. The Unified Territories found peace. And her sister was finally able to live the life she wanted.

  “Bastien, look,” Natalia said, nudging me with the butt of her sword.

  A horde of villagers was standing just outside the fort. Women and children. Elderly men. Young ladies and lads. None of them bore blades or crossbows. Just a look of bewilderment.

  Natalia glanced at me. "Well?"

  I tossed the question back to her. “What do you think we should do?”

  She grunted. “Ask them what they want.”

  “A fine idea.” She waited for me, but I nudged her with the butt of my blade. “Go on, Commander. Go make your inquiries.”

  Natalia gave me a wary look, sheathing her weapon before striding over to the growing crowd of villagers. Meanwhile, I paced along the fort’s ramparts, scanning for threats and thinking about the weres. Tyson jogged over, his hands braced on his hips as he caught his breath. “Well, this went way better than I anticipated it would.”

  I managed a reluctant smile. "You? A pessimist?"

  "Not at all!" Tyson protested. His grin faded. "But after Claire was taken and you went all dead-eyed, I worried I'd carry both your bodies home."

  I didn’t get a chance to thank Tyson for everything he’d done because at that moment, the mass of villagers gathered outside the fort began moving inside under escort. Natalia, signaling to the holding area, gestured toward where the half-transformed weres were kept, and the villagers rushed over, hugging and kissing them despite the ropes on their wrists. I realized then these weres must be relatives.

  Natalia joined Tyson and me. “Apparently, Shayla didn’t allow them to see each other after she changed them. It was part of her recruiting tactic. You didn’t know what was really happening.”

  Some were kneeling over dead bodies, sobbing over them. Claire and those who had gravitated toward her—Okeri, Alec, Sera, and Tansy—wandered over to us wearing horrified looks.

  “The extent of this…” Claire choked out, tears brimming but refusing to fall, heartbreak vivid on her face.

  “When Mama talked about a world where Witches of the Light were safe,” Sera added, “I never thought it would look like this.”

  Natalia, who had a great dislike of Claire’s sister after she’d slapped her, gave an appreciative nod. “Shayla and your mother were kindred spirits. Unfortunately for them.”

  “When this is done,” Lady Okeri said. “We’re all going to need a stiff drink.”

  Tansy and Sera both said, “Cheers to that.”

  Tyson agreed. “When we get back to Château Rose…” he stopped, realizing I was glaring at him, and reconsidered, “you are free to do as you wish.”

  Beyond where we stood, a woman dropped to her knees in the mud and gathered a body into her lap—one of the fallen weres—rocking back and forth, her howl of grief tore through the yard.

  As her cries echoed, the wind moved through the broken beams of the fort. Smoke from cook fires hung in the air. Somewhere in the crowd, a child was crying.

  I saw how Claire absorbed the horror of war, realizing that surviving wasn’t the hardest part—it was living with what followed. She lifted her chin, refusing to let her tears fall, and held her sister’s hand, then Tansy’s. Witches of Light and Darkness stood together before these weary souls.

  One by one, the villagers began to notice them. Conversations trailed off mid-sentence. Even the half-shifted weres lifted their heads.

  Their eyes weren’t on me, or Natalia, or Tyson. They watched these women.

  This was her moment. Her moment to spread her bravery. I wanted to reach for her, to hold her, but I wasn’t going to dim her light. Not now.

  "Blood has been shed on both sides of this conflict," Claire said. The entire fort went quiet. Even the wind seemed to hush to listen. “I know how devastating it is to bury family because of it.”

  She looked at her sister. Meanwhile, each eye was fixed on her. Hope was spreading faster than the rot ever could, but it was almost too delicate for them to hold.

  "I know what it’s like to hate dark witches," Claire continued. The words were pulled from some wounded place inside her. A place I knew just as well. I’d been raised with the same hate. “My mother,” she said, pointing to the woman who lay dead. “She told me they all had razor-sharp teeth and ate children."

  A few nodded. Others muttered their agreement.

  “But look at what Shayla did to you.” Her voice wobbled, but she did not back down. “To your brothers and sisters. Husbands and wives. Mothers and fathers. She convinced you that in order to fight the darkness, you had to grow teeth too.”

  Chills ran down my spine. She wasn’t wrong.

  “I know what it’s like to let hate take up so much space inside your body it feels like a living, breathing part of you.” She thumped her chest. “A part that takes over your thoughts. Your actions. Even the prayers you pray at night."

  More grunts and shouts came. But it wasn’t all support, and I shared a look with Natalia and Tyson. Ready for the tide to turn, I prepared to defend my wife if needed.

  “How can we trust vampires?” someone shouted.

  A woman with a dirty apron and a baby in her arms stood. “They’re bloodsuckers!”

  I wouldn’t ask Claire to defend my people and me. That was my job. “We live by rules,” I explained. “A code of honor forged in the blood of twelve witches. Six from each faction. I was one of those witches.” The next part stuck in my throat, but I forced it out. “The rules of the Blood Treaty establish trust between us. We do not rule over you. We are peacekeepers.”

  “And what happens if one of you breaks a rule?”

  I swallowed hard. Claire’s eyes found mine. But I kept my attention trained on the one who asked the question. “There are severe consequences for the vampire who acts outside of the Blood Treaty.”

  “What kind of consequences?” he shouted back at me.

  I lifted my chin, still carefully avoiding Claire’s gaze. “Forfeiture of lands and titles. Banishment. Death.”

  A buzz of disbelief ran through the crowd. Faces twisted with worry, some inching toward hope, others back into fear. I held my breath, praying Shayla’s horrors had finally exhausted their thirst for vengeance.

  Tansy stepped forward, slinging her arms around Claire’s shoulders and holding her tightly. The two stood side by side: Tansy, petite but muscled with brown skin and white braids, and Claire, curvy and pale with red hair cascading down her back. One refused to charge her powers, another struggled to define her magick.

  Their show of unity meant more to me than I could put into words. “You can curse vampires as bloodsuckers,” Tansy said, “but let me ask you this. Will there ever be enough blood to satisfy your hate?" A beat of silence. “Or is today the day you finally say enough!”

  The crowd went silent again. My hands tensed, ready to grab my blade if need be. Not to hurt them, but to deter. No one would harm my wife.

  Unbelievably, hope whispered through the crowd, smothering the flames of the fury that had been burning inside them.

  Claire picked up where Tansy left off. “Life can be so much more than just surviving. There are beautiful, wonderful things that you can experience when you stop letting hate rule your life. Like love. And hope. I’ve seen it. I’ve felt it."

  I waited. This was either the moment things changed or the start of another five hundred years of negotiations. One woman stepped forward. She was wrapped in furs and had dirt caked beneath her nails. She wore a look of exhaustion. “I can’t speak for all the witches here, but as for my family and me, I’m ready to join you.”

  I could hardly believe it. Then another stepped forward. An older male. Human. His family was kneeling around one of the slain weres. “My only son joined with Shayla. And I encouraged him. I-I’d told him it was honorable.” Tears fell down his face. “I thought this was what I wanted.”

  A younger woman, a shawl clutched around her shoulders, came to stand beside him. “What my father is trying to say,” she began, “is that we’ve sacrificed enough for this war. Maybe it’s time to sacrifice our old ways for the sake of peace.”

  More stepped forward. Witches and weres and humans. Until I had pledges from not one leader, but a hundred single voices. This was how the Blood Treaty was born. In the weary hearts and the fragile hope of people who were done with fighting. It reminded me of those first talks. When covens would meet and discuss what it would take to stop the fighting.

  And I knew, as surely as I knew the weight of the sword at my side, that this was not my doing. It was hers.

  Tansy appeared at my side, a fierce look in her dark eyes. “This was what Devlinn wanted, Your Grace.” She wiped away an errant tear with the heel of her hand. “I can feel him here. I know he’s with us.”

  I hadn’t known Devlinn well. But I could almost see him leaning against the fence posts, arms crossed, smile crooked.

  “I’m sure he is. And when we return to Chastity’s, we’re going to give him a hero’s funeral.”

  The offer felt insufficient for his sacrifice, but it was all I had to offer. That, and the reassurance that Tansy wouldn’t have to live a consort’s life again. I would make her a lady.

  “Thank you, Your Grace.”

  “No,” I replied, meeting her gaze. Hand on her shoulder. “Thank you.”

  As more villagers shouted their willingness for peace, I stepped forward and raised my voice, knowing I needed to seize the momentum in the moment.

  “Commander,” I said. Natalia turned to me, a look of overwhelming surprise on her face. “Collect the family names of all those who wish to join the Blood Treaty. Answer their questions. Make certain they understand what it requires.”

  She dipped into a curtsy. “Of course, Uncle.”

  Claire met my eyes, and for a moment, the noise of the fort fell away entirely. I couldn’t understand how anyone would look at a woman like that with anything short of wonder. How her own mother could’ve convinced her that she was unintelligent.

  I wanted to tell her to sit down and rest. She’d been through enough today. But something told me that would only infuriate her, and I didn’t want to spoil the moment. That was my fear. I needed to trust that she would take a break if she needed one. However, there was more I needed to say.

  I found Tyson, Alec, and Sera clustered around the wolf’s head. Alec and Tyson bowed. Sera simply crossed her arms. Her opinions about vampires had changed, but I clearly hadn’t impressed her. Although she’d been in the room when I’d fucked her sister, so perhaps it was that.

  I cleared my throat. “I don’t have the words to express my gratitude to the three of you. Had you not followed me, had you not chased down Shayla, none of this would be possible.”

  Tyson tried to restrain a grin. “Does this mean I’ve proven to be more than just a royal pain in your neck?”

  “Something like that.” I scrubbed a hand over my chin. “Sera, Alec, could you excuse us for a moment?” Alec bowed, Sera sneered, then they marched off toward where Claire and Tansy were speaking to the people. I gestured to a more secluded area of the fort where there were fewer people milling about. “I have a request to make of you.”