Page 31 of Blood Sings (Beyond the Gloom #1)

“Aurora!” Selena’s voice thundered like a cannon, rooting me in place. Her iron grip clamped my wrist, yanking me back from the porch doors. “You stay right there.”

I whirled to face her, breath catching in the back of my mouth. Hummingbird’s words rang in my mind, each syllable stoking the fire that clawed its way up my chest. Shame and self-disgust roiled, searing away my assurance. I clamped my free hand over my mouth, fighting the urge to retch, to run, to hide from my arrogance.

What terrified me most was how easily I’d slipped into looking down on these people—people who’d offered shelter and protection. I treated them with the same cold indifference my mother would have shown. Her icy voice slithered through my thoughts, ‘When will you learn, child? You treat animals like animals,’ and the realization shook me to my core. I’d become everything I’d sworn to fight against.

“Let go,” I hissed and tugged against her grip. “I need to—”

“No.” Selena’s fingers tightened, her face hardening into that ‘don’t even try me’ expression I knew all too well. “We clean this up now.”

Terraknight rose, his massive body tensing like an angry bear. “What the hell? I told her to leave.”

“Oh, you told her…” Selena’s laugh was brittle, bordering on hysterical. “How stupid of me.”

The air hummed, thick with the scent of jasmine and cuscus grass—Selena’s magic awakening. She sank her nails into my skin, nostrils flaring like a dragon about to breathe fire.

With a twist of her hand, she slammed Terraknight back into his chair. The whole room shook, dishes clattering, spoons clanging against plates.

“Selena!” I gasped, wrenching free. “We had an agreement. No magic!”

Her eyes burned with a fury that stole my breath. “The hell with agreements. Civility? ” She spat the word like a curse. “Look where that’s gotten us! I’m done watching you get hurt while playing nice. If they need a reminder of who we are, I’ll fucking show them.”

“Miss Popescu,” Harbinger said, voice cold as midwinter frost. “Release my vice-captain. Now. We can discuss this like—”

“Like what? Rational adults?” Selena snarled. “Tell that to bird-boy.”

Hummingbird leaped up, soup sloshing over his overalls. “You crazy bitch!”

Oh no. He didn’t just call her that .

It happened in a heartbeat.

Selena’s hand clawed the air, her Blood Manipulation surging. Hummingbird went rigid, then tumbled like a marionette with slackened strings. His chair wobbled on its back legs, then crashed to the floor with him.

Pandemonium erupted. Everyone lunged, some toward Hummingbird, others in our direction, but Selena’s magic caught them mid-motion and forced them back into their seats.

They froze, faces contorted in shock and rage, muscles straining against invisible bonds.

Even Harbinger stilled, surprise flashing across his face before his eyes narrowed in concentration. I sensed him gathering power, preparing to shatter Selena’s hold.

My heart hammered. “Selena,” I whispered, fear tightening my throat. “Stop this. Please.”

“No, Aurora. Enough.” She shook her head. “It’s time they learned. It’s time you learned. We’re not anyone’s prey.”

I met Harbinger’s gaze over Selena’s shoulder and saw his muscles bulging with the strain. He was seconds from breaking free, and when he did…

My mouth dried. Whatever happened next, there would be no going back. I wouldn’t let him hurt her. I’d kill him if I had to. Even though it was my fault, my pride, that had brought us here.

“Listen, all of you,” Selena seethed, stalking the length of the table. Her finger jabbed the air like a loaded gun. “You despise us, we loathe you. It’s no secret. Aurora and I could end you all right now, and no one would bat an eye. The only reason we don’t is out of her respect for you—the one pureblood in the entire Republic who doesn’t hate your guts. And you’ve treated her like dirt!”

Their smoldering gazes turned my knees to rubber. I forced my spine straight, digging my heels into the timber floor. I’d stood up to my mother. I could face this too.

“Your friend’s death is tragic. I get that,” Selena continued, raising her voice. “But how can you blame us? We were kids when the War Act passed. We had no say! The Republic feeds us lies daily, denying you even exist. Parents use you as the boogeyman, scaring children into behaving. You know who saw through that bullshit and fought for your side?” She pointed at me, and my face tingled with warmth. “Aurora did.”

“We won’t apologize, if that’s what you’re after,” Ember muttered, her teeth set in a hard line. Her fingers twitched, sparks dancing between them. Either she was resisting Selena’s blood magic, or my best friend’s control was slipping. My money was on the latter.

Selena’s head snapped toward her, onyx hair whipping like a razor’s edge. Her eyes, sharp as blades, narrowed to slits. Pure predator. “To hell with your apology, and to hell with you. You think we want to be here? After what Aurora endured—”

“That’s enough, Selena!” I barked. I’d never pulled rank before, but her pledge to the Tepes Coven bound her to my orders. These were my secrets, my shame. I wouldn’t let her speak of them without my permission ever again.

She bowed her head. “They need to know.”

“Know what?” Harbinger rose to his full height, slow and methodical, as if encased in barbed wire—stiff, shoulders rigid, unnaturally straight.

His honey-colored eyes betrayed what his blank expression tried to hide: hard and backlit with contained fury. Those eyes now pierced through me, burning with questions I wasn’t ready to answer.

“Nothing that concerns you,” I snapped, my fingers instinctively tracing the scars hidden beneath my silk scarf. “You have your secrets, I have mine.”

Harbinger flickered, reappearing before Selena, and slammed her against the wall. Plaster cracked, weapons and stone fragments raining down.

The air rushed from her lungs, her magic slipping away like sand with the tide. That black crescent-shaped weapon—the one I’d seen slice through Stalkers and tear holes in reality—hovered at her throat.

My pulse roared in my ears.

Chairs scraped.

The outliers rose, flexing stiff fingers. Gale’s wings unfurled, casting long shadows across the room. Pearl and the vice-captain lingered behind as the others closed in on me, a pack of wolves circling wounded prey.

Harbinger leaned in, his face inches from Selena’s. “You attacked my guild— again ,” he hissed. “Tell me, Lieutenant, if I retaliate now, am I the boogeyman, or is it just self-defense?”

Selena bared her fangs, fear and defiance etched into her face. “Kill me, prove my point.”

Time stretched like taffy, and my heart plummeted. I had to act before Harbinger hurt her.

Magic surged through me, natural as breathing. I let it rise but kept it to a low simmer, wary of detection. While all eyes fixed on him, I reached for the blood samples I’d collected during the Initiation. Tendrils of his essence responded to my call, eager and familiar.

I’d been inside his mind before. Brute force wouldn’t crack his mental shields. So, I began ‘knitting’—a delicate task made harder by the need for subtlety. My temples throbbed in protest, every nerve screaming for caution.

Silence. Focus.

The first blood thread slipped through his defenses undetected. Emboldened, I wove two dozen more, creating a blood mesh over his motor cortex. One wrong move, and I’d paralyze him completely. Not even his precious Wolf God could save him then.

I tugged the reins, just a whisper, letting Harbinger know I was there. His right eye twitched. He backed away from Selena, a crazed laugh merging with his growl. “You insufferable woman!” he snarled at her, lowering the yatagan-like blade at his side. His glowing eyes locked onto me. “Start talking, projector.”

I bared my fangs, the temptation to tell him to go fuck himself burning on the tip of my tongue. But his proximity to Selena made my stomach clench. I hated it, but I couldn’t risk Selena’s safety for the fleeting satisfaction of standing up to him and hiding the truth.

“We can’t go back,” I hissed. “Not until our Creator awakens.”

Quakelord scoffed. “So, you’ve been exiled. What did you do?”

“We haven’t been exiled,” I rasped, fighting to stay upright against Harbinger’s mental assault to expel me from his head. Not a chance. As long as he threatened Selena, I’d remain lodged in his psyche like a thorn.

“Then why can’t you return home?” Gale asked over Quakelord’s shoulder.

I leveled my hardest glare at them both. Lev’s… actions were a wound I’d cauterized, buried deep, and refused to let fester. Speaking of it would only tear open the scar. Relief unknotted my stomach when Gale finally looked away, pulling Quakelord back.

Harbinger’s voice rolled like a far-off storm. “Tell us about the Red Moon.”

Selena seized her chance, slipping past him.

His jaw popped, but he only shook his head, so I exhaled and released my magic, sagging as golden spots danced across my vision.

“Do you understand how a Blood Pact works?” Selena asked, her tone gaining that clinical familiarity.

Harbinger’s lip curled in abhorrence. “I care little about your personal pleasures—”

“If you think a Blood Pact is just about sex, we shouldn’t be having this conversation.” She breezed past Quakelord and Gale without a glance back.

“This is getting interesting,” Quakelord quipped, but Terraknight silenced him with a fist to his chest.

“You have my attention, Lieutenant,” Harbinger said.

Selena’s eyes sought mine, asking permission. I nodded, grateful they’d stopped prying into my life.

Harbinger studied me with an agile gaze. I met it head-on, refusing to shrink away despite the memories this discussion would inevitably dredge up.

“Think of it as a consensual blood exchange, with emotional baggage,” Selena explained, interlocking her fingers. “Your partner gains unrestricted access to your thoughts. The longer they feed, the deeper they go. No hiding, no holding back—only blind trust and vulnerability. A temporary, but intense bond forms, linking two beings in ways beyond the physical.

“Now,” she turned to Harbinger, “this connection often ignites intense feelings. Lust, for example.” A suggestive grin appeared on her face. “It’s not solely dependent on the feeding, but it’s one hell of an advantage.

“When two originals feed off each other…” she puffed out a breath, her hands mimicking an explosion, “things don’t just escalate. They detonate. I’m sure you can provide more… intimate details. You’ve experienced it firsthand, haven’t you, Harbinger?”

Ember’s foot slammed against the floor. “She forced herself on him!”

My forehead burned as if branded with a neon ‘villain’ sign. I met Harbinger’s gaze and froze. A hot, predatory fire played in his sunlit eyes.

“Oh, but she did not.” Selena laughed, a sharp edge seeping into her voice. “He consented during the Initiation.”

“What if it’s not consensual?” Terraknight asked.

“If a willing Blood Pact brings bliss, then a forced one…” Selena’s eyes flicked to me, worry etching her features. “Simply put, a quick death would be more merciful.”

The ground gave way beneath me, plunging me into thick darkness. Lev’s face flashed before my eyes, his cruel smile as sharp as the fangs that had torn into my flesh. The phantom scent of cyanide—his scent—filled my nostrils. My silk scarf morphed into his hand, tightening, choking, controlling as air refused to escape.

Pearl’s voice wavered, distant and distorted. “And if an original feels more than a pureblood—”

“You’ve nailed it.”

I wanted to scream, to claw at my ears, to silence the voices blurring past and present. But I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. The flashback threatened to pull me under, ready to drag me back into that cursed night. No. I gritted my teeth, shaking my head. I wouldn’t let it win. Not now. Never again.

“That’s how you got your scars.” Harbinger’s growl jolted me from my downward spiral. He took a halting step toward me, arm half-raised, before he caught himself.

My secret lay bare, stripped raw for all to see. I blinked hard, willing away tears, and fixed my gaze on a water stain on the ceiling.

Gale’s sharp inhale cut the silence. “Who did this to you?”

I couldn’t meet their eyes, couldn’t stand to witness the pity, horror, or worse—judgment. But with my wounds now on display, what was the point of hiding?

Drawing a deep breath, I mentally prepared myself. They deserved the truth. Maybe they’d understand our situation better. And perhaps, unburdening myself would loosen the stranglehold of anxiety around my throat.

“When my superior appointed me as your projector, I assured him I’d get to know you to the best of my abilities.” I clasped my trembling hands behind my back. “He opposed the idea, insisting I prioritize my survival. My behavior has nothing to do with the Republic, Total Rendition, or Russkaya. I apologize for my poor conduct. How I treated you reflects on me, Aurora Tepes, without the titles and rank.”

Silence dried my throat. “I haven’t been completely honest with you. To explain, I need to tell you how our politics work.” No interruptions, so I continued. “Until Derzelas chooses otherwise, his eldest son, Dracula, rules the Republic. I’m next in line to inherit his magic, making me heir to the throne. It’s my birthright.”

Terraknight crossed his arms over his chest. “Hasn’t someone else taken your seat?”

“They have, for the next fifty years, or until I grow strong enough to take it back,” I replied, gulping down bitterness. “After Father’s passing, our coven fell into ruin. We lost half our people in the war. Allies betrayed us, subjects broke their loyalties. Later, we discovered the Wurdulaks had created dissent to remove us from power. They succeeded.”

I glanced at Selena.

Her nod encouraged me to go on.

I sighed. “Mother feared Lucian and Marcus would fight for the crown. She said it had been too long since Derzelas favored our Creator. I became our last hope. She arranged my marriage to Lev Wurdulak, Lucian’s heir, to secure an alliance, regardless of our Dark Father’s decision.”

“She promised you to the people who plotted against her? That’s seriously messed up,” Quakelord retorted, disdain sharp in his voice.

“You can say that again,” Selena hissed. “Elena Tepes is a cold-hearted bitch.”

“I fought her decision,” I admitted, my voice growing faint. “But when he…” My throat constricted. The room started to spin. I shut my eyes, fighting sudden nausea.

“Lev gifted Aurora a halfblood-massacre on her birthday,” Selena seethed.

Terraknight and Hummingbird’s simultaneous roar shook the house. “He what?”

Swallowing bile, I forced the words out despite the wails echoing in my mind. “Lev sealed their fate when he brought them to court. I confronted him, but he’d already inherited Lucian’s power. My weakness…” I choked on my words, shame heating my cheeks. “He was too strong. I could do nothing.”

“Why not report him?” Pearl startled.

Selena, sensing my racing pulse, stepped in. “Forced Blood Pacts mean immediate execution, except for the prince. The Wurdulaks control everyone, even Aurora’s brother, the governor.”

“You’re joking,” Quakelord sneered.

Gale’s eyes narrowed. “What about your mother?”

I shook my head. Her brows furrowed into a scowl.

“She’s heartless,” Selena hissed. “Ready to sacrifice her own daughter for the coven’s benefit.”

The room filled with seawater and brine as Pearl’s eyes started to blaze white. “She’d give you to that monster?”

“We aren’t known for our compassion,” I murmured. We treated them like animals, after all.

Silence fell, thick and suffocating. The varva’s mouth slackened, sharing a furtive glance with the captain. Terraknight leaned against the wall, hands in pockets.

His piercing hazel eyes studied Selena. “And yet here you are, leaving behind a life of riches to protect your friend.”

“I haven’t abandoned anything,” she retorted. “Not that I see why it should concern you if I had.”

Their stare-off stretched for an uncomfortably long time.

“I never wanted this for her,” I intervened, before they could come to blows. “But she’s stubborn. Once she makes up her mind, there’s no changing it.”

Ember elbowed her way forward. “You still haven’t told us what a Blood Pact has to do with the Red Moon.” Her hateful gaze felt like a noose tightening around my throat.

I stiffened.

“Let me,” Selena said with a gentle squeeze of my arm. “The Blood Pact performed during the Red Moon is a marriage contract—an eternal bond. It’s an archaic court ritual requiring pure, undiluted blood. That’s what Elena Tepes had in mind for her daughter.”

“That vile woman!” Gale spat.

Selena’s glare zeroed in on Harbinger. “Now you understand my reaction. Once complete, this bond can’t be undone.”

The air around Harbinger morphed, darkness and lightning swirling as if hunting each other. Coffee and roses perfumed the air. His brawny arm popped out of nowhere, curling around my waist.

“Hold your breath,” he commanded.

Before I could react, the ground vanished. He yanked me backward into an abyss crackling with golden vines, my hair flying in front of my face, blocking out the room and the gaping outliers as we plunged into nothingness.