Lilly sat quietly as she processed the information. She was staring into his eyes. He never once looked away from her. There was a part of her, which she’d felt before when she’d stared into his eyes, that wanted to drop her gaze, but she’d always simply blown it off as being just another weird thing about herself. Finally, she spoke. “So you can actually change into a wolf?”
“Yes, but we call it phasing,” he answered.
She stared at him for a few minutes trying to imagine him changing, or phasing, as he called it, into an actual wolf. “Will you show me?”
Dillon’s lips turned up into a sly smile and his eyes began to glow. “On one condition.”
“I can’t tell anyone, right?” she asked. “That’s the condition?”
He shook his head slowly. “You have to promise to pet me.”
Present day
It was all Lilly could do to keep from ripping out her own anemic heart. Regardless of whether the feeling was healthy, Lilly envied Alina. The alpha female had died with the man she loved. She hadn’t been left behind to bear the pain. Unfortunately, this pain was familiar—a prodigal sibling returned home. Twenty years ago, the pain had lived within her, and she’d thought it would never leave. That time, the man she’d given her heart to hadn’t died, but he might as well have.
Two weeks had passed since the Blood Moon ceremony, and three weeks since she’d lost the second man she’d ever loved. She couldn’t help at times but compare the familiar emotions to those she’d experienced when she’d lost Dillon. To be fair, she’d known losing him was always a possibility because of what he was. But over the years, she’d somehow convinced herself she could avoid that fate. Surely, his love for her was stronger than any supernatural bond could be. How wrong she had been.
And now, she’d convinced herself that Cypher was invincible. He was larger than life and more formidable than any foe he’d ever faced. It never crossed her mind that he might not come through a battle unscathed. Again, how wrong she had been.
Lilly paced their bedroom because no position was comfortable. Her arms crossed in front of her chest, only to be dropped to her sides and then brought back up to cross again. She passed in front of their mirror with every pace of the room. The woman there tracking her movements couldn’t be Lilly Pierce. That woman was a ghost, gaunt skin stretched across a hollow frame. Dark circles surrounded wild eyes resting below a shock of tangled hair. She wore a black sleep gown from Cypher. He’d given her many gifts. Sometimes she wondered if he felt like he had to somehow make up for the way they were brought together and the part he had played in it.
This time across the room, Lilly stopped in front of the mirror. She shook her head as frown lines marred her forehead. “Who are you?” she asked the woman staring back at her. Seconds ticked by as they stared at each other, both women seeming to look to the other for something—some hope, some light buried deep inside that would enable them to carry on. Both knew it wouldn’t be found.
Lilly startled when a knock thudded on her bedroom door. She turned away from the ghost in the mirror and retrieved her robe from the bed, slipping it on before walking over and pulling it open. Gerick, the warlock army general—my warlock army—stood across the threshold.
“I’m sorry to bother you, my queen,” Gerick said, his voice gentle, as if she were made of glass and by speaking too loudly he might cause her to shatter.
It pissed her off to know he could see just how fragile she was at the moment. But don’t I have a right to be fragile? Isn’t it my prerogative to shatter if that’s what I want to do?
“You are no bother, Gerick.” She stood up straight and attempted to put some strength into her voice.
“The leaders of the other clans would like to meet with you. They want to know when you might be ready.”
Lilly gritted her teeth. All of the warlock clans loyal to Cypher and the Great Luna had shown up at the Blood Moon ceremony, and the leaders of those clans were currently guests in their mountain. Cypher hadn’t been merely the king of their clan; he was the king of all warlocks, and the leaders had answered to him. Now, they would answer to her. For some reason, that fact made her want to laugh. Not too long ago, she’d been a single mother who owned a struggling bookstore. She’d known about the supernatural world, but she hadn’t been a part of it. In fact, she’d hoped she never would be a part of it again. And now she was the queen of an entire supernatural race.
“What time is it now?” she asked the general. One of the things that annoyed her about living in a mountain was that she couldn’t see outside, so she had no idea what time of day it was. She could look at her phone, but hell if she knew where it was.
“It is four o’clock in the afternoon, your highness,” again his voice soft.
Lilly took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. “Can I ask you a question?” She hated to sound clueless, but the new queen had no choice. And she figured it was much better to look foolish in front of her general rather than a room full of clan leaders.
“Of course,” Gerick answered.
“What are they are expecting of me? They know Cypher transferred his power to me. What do they want?”
Gerick motioned with his hand toward her chamber.
