Page 13 of Claimed By Fangs and Darkness

These questions seemed stupid as soon as I thought them. They were downright asinine in their obviousness. They probablywerethose things to the turned. But I’d spent the past decade in hiding, terrified of anyone knowing who I was and what I was capable of. Petrified of seeing my brother and adoptive grandmother in danger because ofme.

I hadn’t had the bandwidth to think such obvious thoughts before.

For a moment, I saw the forest again—Hekate’s wise, knowing eyes—the snake that slithered and coiled around her.

Then I saw a group of tattooed turned, dressed in all black, exiting a mansion with a group of terrified, wounded mortals—some of them teenagers.

I focused on the turned man in front, the man with thorny branch tattoos and dark eyes, power that thrummed throughthe air. The vampire commanding his comrades to be careful, to make sure the humans were delivered to a care center safely.

I was looking at Rune, the turned lord of Aristelle, rescuing trafficking victims from the born.

Rune, who had overthrown the born on the island of Valentin centuries ago, forcing King Earle to recognize him as the semi-autonomous island’s new ruler. He was Kylo’s idol.

The next images I saw were not as heartwarming.

Born sex parties, which mostly involved torturing mortals for their own amusement. Born hunting humans in the streets, murdering someone’s daughter, someone’s father or sister or high priest.

I saw corpses like Idris. Bodies tossed away with little concern. Eyes that stared into nothingness.

I wondered who those drugged mortals, child brides, and victims could’ve been if the born didn’t exist. Would they have been healers? Artists? Would they have spent their days laughing? Or in the arms of a lover?

The last image I saw was of myself, suspended in midair, shadows leaving my mouth and my limbs in fits of screams and darkness.

I watched as my shadows feasted on the born and the witch who served them, as Kylo protected Idris with a shield of shadow.

Flesh ripped from bone. Bones crumbled to ash. Souls returned to their Dark Mother.

I felt no shame. I felt no fear. I felt no regret.

My eyes opened back up to the lush forest.

The roots released me, and I rose to my feet. New intuition flooded my mind—intuition about what could be sacrificed in exchange for my brother’s immortality.

“I’m still going to be selfish to save my brother, because I’m mortal. And that’s just who I am,” I whispered unabashedly. “But you were right.”

Princeton stood next to Hekate now, his smile as mischievous as ever.

“I won’t be devoted to the clan because of Idris. I’ll be devoted to the clan because I begged you for my life and I promised not to waste it.”

A tear slid down my cheek. Princeton’s smile grew.

“I have enough magick to change the world. I have enough power to rescue children the way I always hoped someone would rescueme.I don’t want to play defense anymore.”

I remembered the dark pit, the realization that I hadn’t experienced nearly enough love in this life. Notyet.

“I no longer fear death. I fear not living.”

Princeton’s eyes sharpened. “Stop trying to be good, Evie. Be you.”

My chest opened, and my shoulders released some unconscious burden.

“Be the motherfucking Tower.”

I smirked. The once terrifying tarot card suddenly became a source of power, an image of ultimate freedom.

Princeton twirled a hand, his messy curls lifting in the wind. “When it’s called for, of course…”

“Of course,” I whispered. My smile was shaky, still tainted by the violence of the realm I’d born witness to.