Page 65 of Blood Moon

When we survived, we didn’t come back the same.

Article VI, Lost Letters from Aadan the First

I ran from Julian, folds of my dress breaking in the wind, only halting at the sight of Hester Hall. I paused to breathe, staring at my scarred hands, remembering the heat and sparks that had emanated from them. What had been awakened inside me?

“Mira!” someone shouted, and the voice was distinct, but it wasn’t Julian, nor was it any of those who’d been after me.

When I turned, Seven was running in a line toward me.

Sweat coated his brown skin, and he still wore the suit he’d had on for homecoming.

Loose threads frayed at the seams, buttons hung from threads.

He was aghast at the sight of me, and I could only imagine how I appeared.

My hair was a mess, blood crusted in the corners of my lips, dress sprinkled with crimson. My bare feet, dirty and swollen.

“Your eyes,” he said when he reached me, and I blinked. “There’s a red ring around them.”

It was from the blood I drank. A reminder that I was a dhampir, and a realization that the blood I’d ingested had erupted a monster that had been locked inside.

My limbs felt heavier, harder to move. The world, through the eyes I’d always had, seemed clearer, a greater level of detail encasing everything, and the smell of this place was overwhelming.

“It’s true?” Seven whispered, and when he did, I remembered how Julian had warned me to stay away from him.

I stumbled back.

“Wait!” he pleaded, taking steps to catch up, but I kept going. The wolves were after me, and he was a wolf, wasn’t he? Seven dropped to his knees, hands held up in surrender. “I swear on my life, I’m not here to hurt you.”

“Are you a werewolf?” I questioned.

He dropped his head, ashamed. “You know about that?” he said weakly, and I watched him pull at grass.

“I didn’t know they were after you. My dad, he keeps me in the dark.

I was genuinely going to take you home,” he said, and when he regarded me, his eyes seemed weary.

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere. And I haven’t stopped. ”

Seven really was a werewolf. I recalled all the signs I neglected as I watched him, knees pressed to wet grass, curls dripping with rain. Look at him, so earnest. Only, it was hard to trust my gut when I’d been severely wrong. Last time, it almost cost me my life.

“Your friends were looking for you,” he started. “They were scared, and they wanted to leave to find you. We kept calling your phone, but it went to voicemail.”

Stevie, Abi, Naomi, Em. It’d been hours since I’d seen them. They were probably in a fluster of panic. “Where are they?” I questioned. “What happened to them?”

“I brought them back here, and we called the police.”

“Did anyone come?” I rushed to say, knowing that if they called

the police, someone would have notified Bobby. “My dad,” I clarified. “Did someone call him?”

And before the attack happened, he’d called me—something he only did in emergencies. My heart raced. What if the Blood Lycans had gotten to him while trying to get to me? Or what if it were the vampires, or the Fullbloods?

Seven stood to his feet, sensing my urgency. “Stevie called, but we couldn’t reach him. She told the police that he worked for the sheriff’s department, but that was the last of it.” I pressed my hands to my face. If something had happened to him … please no.

“I can drive you,” Seven said, a bob in his throat. He knew I didn’t have a car. “If you’re worried, or you just want to get to him, I can take you home.” He held his hands up again. “I swear I’m not going to hurt you. And you,” he said, looking me up and down again. “You look like you need help.”

I didn’t know what to do, or whom I should believe. Everyone had been lying to me, but Bobby, he was defenseless against these creatures. Wouldn’t have a chance. Though, if Seven was a wolf … it was some sort of protection. It was better than just me.

And what I knew was that Seven had always been a bright spot in all of this.

If anything happened, I could find a way to escape again, and the way he observed me told me he meant no harm.

I was scared. I was confused, and I didn’t want to be alone.

What were my other options? How else would I get home?

I could return to Hester, wait for someone to let me in, wake Stevie, and try to fiddle around with the fact that I survived a blood sacrifice, and that there was a myriad of paranormal creatures after me.

She’d call me delusional. Perhaps. And that was if the person who let me in wasn’t frightened away.

Seven grabbed his cell from his pocket, placed it on the ground between us.

“I’ll let you hold the phone the entire ride.

You can have the police dialed the moment you feel unsafe.

” He took a step forward. “And I’ll leave the doors unlocked.

I’m not here to hurt you.” I picked up his phone, held it in my hands.

“070701,” he said. “That’s the code.”

I entered the digits, and when his home screen appeared, I exhaled, looked at him, hands still raised in peace.

“Okay,” I agreed, and Seven sighed in relief. “But if you dare do anything I’m not okay with, I—”

“You’ll kill me,” he said, finishing my sentence. “I know.”

We rushed to his car, and when he offered to carry me, I declined, glaring at him. I didn’t look that feeble, did I?

“Sorry,” he said, hands flying up again. “Just wanted to help.”

When we got to his car, I opened the door with so much force, it bounced on its hinges. Seven gaped at me, mouth open. “Easy on the protein, Mira. Jeesh. ”

“Sorry,” I mumbled, still unaware to this newfound strength. I closed the door as gently as I knew how, and when the engine came to life, I felt the pressure in my chest. Pressed his phone in my hands and directed him where to go before I asked if he had Stevie’s number.

He nodded.

I searched her name, created a message. I didn’t know how I’d explain all of this, but I felt awful for what I’d put my friends through unknowingly.

For now, I said:

Stevie, it’s Mira. I’m with Seven now, and he’s taking me to my dad.

I’m okay, and I’m so sorry for leaving you all behind.

It’s a long story, and I’ll explain what I can later.

I couldn’t make any promises. And really, there was no way to explain the last few hours when, to me, it felt as though it would never end.

Since Bobby still believed in landlines, I sent Stevie the number to his house, hoping she’d call. That way, if Seven did do anything out of the ordinary, she’d know he was the last person I’d been with.

When the message was sent, I called Bobby’s cell over and over again, panicking when he didn’t answer. I tried the house phone, but each time I dialed, I was met with an unpleasant sound that signified a busy line.

Seven sped down the highway as I continued to call, glancing at me too often, and with a sadness that was overflowing with guilt.

Stationed in the driveway was a car with Illinois tags.

Seven noticed the way I fidgeted and asked if I wanted him to join me inside.

“No,” I said, scurrying out the car and to the front door before I changed my mind.

It was unlocked when I twisted the knob, and my steps stuttered.

This door was never, ever left unbolted.

Fear throbbed in my neck as I gradually opened the door. The hinges creaked, and I stood in the doorway, anxious for what lay beyond.

As I crossed the threshold, I heard Bobby. It brought temporary relief, but the closer I came, the more urgent he sounded. Immediately following his voice was another.

One from my dreams. One that had rotted within me for years, and the moment I took another step, the talking ceased.

“Dad?” I called out, rounding the corner from the dining room into the living room.

The pressure eased when I saw him. The reprieve almost knocked me over. He was there, standing in the center of the room with his uniform on. He broke into a stride when he saw me, crushing me in his arms as he wept. Finally, finally, finally. I was home.

“We were so terrified,” he cried. “I thought something awful had happened to you.”

I was caught on the word “we,” and when I pulled away from my father, there, on the couch, was my mother, Rena.

She was exactly how I remembered her, except maybe younger.

Her brown skin was paper smooth, not a single line in sight.

Hair wind-blown and picturesque, the shade of ebony.

Her lips were ruby red, as they always were.

She was unimaginably beautiful, and I was unsure if she’d always been that glorious, or if it was the result of my new sight.

But the one thing I couldn’t bypass was the single fact that there was a red ring encompassing her irises. It was how Julian’s eyes looked after he drank my blood, how my eyes looked now.

“Mirabella,” she said, her voice velvety smooth and angelic.

It hit me then. Everything I learned about her was true, and it was unfathomable that I’d gone my entire life not realizing it, but my mother … Rena … she was a vampire.

A single gasp was all I could muster before I collapsed to the floor and slid into a sudden, perpetual nightmare.