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Prologue

Kali’s Mother

Twenty-Five Years Ago

Ihummed my favorite lullaby, rubbing my large belly as I stared at the full moon. The only reason I was outside in this small garden was for the health of the babies growing inside me. The entire area was fenced in, with the only exit being the door connected to the room I’d been confined in for the last nine months.

My back ached, and every few minutes pain radiated through me, proving that the end of this pregnancy was drawing closer. I was in labor. My heart pounded despite my attempt to control it. The contractions were painful, but my crippling fear was for my children who were about to be born into this cruel world.

I already knew what my fate would be. I’d hoped to save my babies. To raise them somewhere they could know peace. But life didn’t work out that way. Something I should have known.

Bending over as gracefully as I could with my enormous belly, I plucked a rose from the garden before straightening back up. Another contraction hit, and I held my breath, staying completely still while I waited for it to pass.

“I can hear your heartbeat,” a voice whispered behind me. “It’s time, isn’t it?”

Forcing a smile, I turned around to face the vampire who’d been at my side the entire pregnancy. She was technically one of my jailers, but somehow turned into a friend. She was the only peace I had since being imprisoned here.

She met my gaze, sympathy and concern etched into her beautiful features. Her bright red hair framed her face, and her usual cheery smile was replaced with an anxious frown.

“I’m fine, Gia,” I promised, ignoring the panic swelling inside me. “I don’t want to go inside yet.”

“We can stay out here as long as you want,” Gia replied, her voice soothing. “But soon, even the humans will realize you’re in labor.”

My eyes drifted past her to the two other women who stood out here with us. They were too far away to catch our conversation since they weren’t vampires. One man was standing near the door with a gun in his hand. Next to him was a male vampire.

I chuckled at the odd situation I created. Gia looked at me out of the corner of her eye, raising an eyebrow.

“Humans and vampires have been fighting for years,” I murmured as I inspected the rose in my hold. “Yet here they are—working together on behalf of me.”

“It hasn’t been easy,” Gia muttered while we walked down the dirt path. “Amaros’s patience is waning. He doesn’t enjoy dealing with humans.”

Running my finger over a thorn on the stem of the rose, I halted my steps. “Can I ask you for something, Gia?”

“Of course.”

“I want to write each of my daughters a note.” I paused when my voice cracked. The emotions I’d hidden these last nine months were beginning to surface. “Can you make sure theykeep them after I’m gone? I want them to have at least one thing to remember me by.”

Gia nodded, grabbing my arm and squeezing gently in a comforting way. “I can do that.”

“Can you try to save them?” My question was barely audible, but I knew she wouldn’t miss it. “Get them away from Amaros and PARA?”

“I…I don’t know,” she answered with sadness in her voice. “Maybe your babies aren’t what everyone believes. Maybe they’re just normal. Then the humans and vampires won’t need for them. You don’t even know if they’re girls.”

I let out a light chuckle. “I do know. The story of dark and light has been spoken for centuries. You know this.”

“But we don’t know that it’s your babies who are important.”

“Yes, we do. Just like Amaros does.”

I touched the rose thorn again, and this time I pricked the tip of my finger. Letting go of the flower, it fell to the ground as I lifted my hand. Gia stared at the drop of blood as it ran down my finger. The blood was as black as the night sky. The Shadow blood that had been running through my veins for decades.

My small cut had already healed, and I began walking again until another contraction had me nearly falling to my knees. Gia grabbed me, keeping me steady.

“If I had known what was going to happen, I never would have gotten pregnant,” I breathed out, admitting the guilt had been plaguing me every moment for the last nine months. “I trusted him. I thought we could fix the world. To bring peace.”

“I know,” Gia soothed, brushing my hair out of my face. “This isn’t your fault.”

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I let out a strangled cry when pain engulfed me. At the same time, memories flooded my mind. About the vampire who I thought loved me. The one I gave my truth to, but he betrayed me.