Flames. Callista loathed them, yet they plagued her dreams. A woman danced in the inferno, her eyes burning embers against the darkness, a terrifying familiarity twisting in Callista's gut.
It wasn't a premonition; it was a memory. The burning church, the golden eyes, the woman's chilling stare – all came rushing back with horrifying clarity. Yet, her face remained obscured.
Callista jolted awake, dread coiling in her gut. Golden eyes... Athena?
No! Athena's golden orbs sparkled with amusement or amusement, never this… sorrowful. Panic clawed at her. Had she met this woman before the orphanage fire? Her memories were frustratingly blank, an emptiness that mirrored the void where answers should be.
A text from Adam, sent at midnight, offered a welcome distraction.
Callista hurried through the deserted city streets, her brow furrowed in a map of worry. The investigation into the ghouls offered a flimsy shield against the tide of unwelcome emotions she couldn't afford to dwell on. Or so she thought.
"You won't believe what I found!"
Pushing the unwelcome emotions aside, Callista forced her voice into a semblance of normalcy. "The ghouls' origin, I presume?"
"That’s right, Callie," Adam chuckled, a hint of nervous energy in his eyes. "There's a trace of werewolf DNA in the samples. Someone's playing Dr. Frankenstein with a vengeance." He gestured towards a screen displaying a complex analysis of werewolf genome sequence.
A sliver of suspicion pricked at Callista. Werewolf blood? Someone was playing a dangerous game. "Whoever did this," she murmured, her gaze fixed on the data, "needed a significant amount of blood."
Adam nodded, his expression mirroring her grave concern. They pieced together the puzzle – a large-scale extraction of blood, unlikely from unwilling werewolves. The answer dawned on them simultaneously.
"The werewolves... they volunteered!" they exclaimed in unison.
But as the realisation settled, a troubling question emerged. Adam rubbed his chin in contemplation. “Just… which party is strong enough to command the werewolves themselves?”
Callista’s frown deepened, unease gnawing at her. The revelation added a new layer of complexity to their investigation. Was there a bigger picture she was missing?”
A soft meow shattered the tense silence. A sleek black cat with eyes like glowing emeralds fixed Callista with an unnerving intensity. It wasn't a house cat's curious stare; it was a gaze that held a chilling intelligence.
"Oh, this is Blackie," Adam beamed, scooping up the purring feline. "Found him injured a few days ago. Needed a companion, you see."
Callista could have sworn the cat's emerald eyes held a flicker of amusement, but surely it was just a trick of the light. Wait! A memory slammed into her - the inferno, the acrid smoke, the sterile lab. Eydis.
"If Eydis burned the lab..." Callista began, piecing things together, "and ghouls attacked Amelia... perhaps it was the work of her enemy." Her gaze darted back to the cat, catching it trembling slightly.
This was no ordinary feline. Curiosity battled with wariness as Callista crouched down, her hand outstretched. But the cunning creature seized the opportunity, twisting and leaping back into Adam's arms.
"So, a royal conspiracy against the Queen, then?" Adam chuckled, oblivious to the undercurrent of tension. Blackie purred contentedly, licking his hand.
Eydis' words echoed in Callista's mind – "family reunion" interrupted. The hunter's focus had been on the Queen, but she did recall Eydis finishing a fight with Adrian shortly before her arrival.
Could the Prince be behind this? And why? Adrian had always advocated for peace within the realm. Or was that just a political ploy?
There was a link, a connection that could answer everything - Adrian's sister, Eydis’s… lover: Princess Athena.
Adam's voice, laced with concern, broke through her thoughts. "Callie, are you alright? Your face just went… well, stormy."
Callista unclenched her fists, unaware of the white-knuckled grip. With a strained smile, she offered, "I owe you dinner… maybe later this week?"
"It's a date, Callie," Adam grinned, oblivious to the storm brewing within her. Callista managed a ghost of a smile, her crimson eyes flickering to the black cat. It watched her with a hint of… annoyance?
Strange cat indeed. But she had a bigger mystery to unravel. She needed to see Athena.
Perhaps, a bitter truth Callista had to swallow, the Council was right. Athena was the key. But unravelling the truth from the enigmatic princess, the woman who ignited a firestorm within Callista, felt like a perilous dance with a viper. Could she trust Athena enough to get the answers she needed, or was the princess playing a game of her own, one that could put them both at risk with the Guardians of Humanity?
Theo rested his head on her lap, captivated by the fleeting smile that played on her lips. It vanished as quickly as it appeared, replaced by a distant sadness that clouded her golden eyes. Lately, she'd been… different. One day she was cold and withdrawn, the next, a flicker of warmth radiated from her, leaving him utterly bewildered.
He shifted uncomfortably. A werewolf prince serving a vampire royalty? It seemed to clash with everything he'd been raised to believe, every lesson his father had drilled into him.
Yet, a powerful pull drew him to her. Despite the dissonance, hope remained. Perhaps, by serving her, he might earn a sliver of her kindness, a fleeting glimpse of the warmth he sensed deep within her.
His father's voice, once a soothing murmur like falling snow, echoed in his mind: "Blood ties... that's what separates us from the vampires. Loyalty... that's what keeps us alive." Theo had clung to those words, a lifeline in the harsh world.
Until his eighth birthday, when loyalty turned on him, ripping his world apart.
The full moon, a cold, indifferent eye, watched the deserted woods bathe in an eerie silver light. Betrayal coursed through Theo as he fled deeper into the woods. Tears blurred his vision. Every rustle of leaves, every snap of a twig, sent a jolt of terror through him. A primal scream trapped in his throat. He just wanted to live.
Why him? What had he even done wrong?
A gnarled root snagged his foot. He stumbled forward, crashing face-first into the unforgiving snow. Disoriented, he pushed himself up, only to be met with a sight that froze his blood. His supposed protectors, the very wolves he'd grown up trusting, surrounded him, their eyes glowing with a predatory hunger.
Tony, flanked by his pack, stood at the forefront, a cruel smile twisting his lips. "The Whitlock reign ends tonight. Blame your inconvenient power surge, Theo."
Theo's back scraped against a rough-barked tree. There was nowhere left to run. The encircling shadows of the wolves swallowed the remaining moonlight, plunging him into a chilling isolation.
Tony lunged. But a sharp crack shattered the tense silence. He crumpled to the ground, his neck twisted at an unnatural angle. Theo's gaze snapped towards the source of the sound.
Bathed in moonlight, an ethereal beauty materialised before him. Her golden eyes held a hint of amusement as her voice, smooth as silk, sliced through the night. "Children are on the new à la carte menu now?"
"W-Who are you?" a stammered question escaped a beta's lips, fear etched on his face. "How did...?" The question died on his lips as the woman vanished and reappeared behind him, neck snapped with horrifying swiftness.
Theo, a mixture of terror and morbid fascination, watched the carnage unfold. One vampire against five of the Dukedom's strongest guardians? Were vampires always this ridiculously overpowered?
A hand, cool and calming, covered his eyes. Another voice, calm and aristocratic, cut through the carnage. "Eydis, please, a little discretion."
Through the chilling screams, Theo caught the dark humour in Eydis' reply. "Educational, Thena. A swift departure, a touch permanent, perhaps, but undeniably merciful."
A delicate chuckle escaped Athena. "Or perhaps you just didn't want another bespoke suit ruined with werewolf fur? How utterly predictable of you, Eydis."
Eydis feigned a dramatic gasp. "Predictable? You wound me! Merely sparing the staff the tedium of deciphering suspicious stains. Blood, after all, is rather pedestrian.” With a flick of her wrist, the final wolf crumpled, its demise as swift and silent as a falling shadow.
Eydis emerged from the carnage, her sleek white blazer disturbingly spotless. "Though," she leaned in, her voice a sultry whisper against Athena’s ear, "some stains whisper far more captivating tales."
Theo blinked, the world solidifying around him in shaky focus as Athena's cool touch faded. A faint blush crept across her cheeks, a human vulnerability colouring a face that echoed the coldness of moonlight. This unexpected display stood in sharp relief to Eydis's ruthless efficiency, now tinged with mischievous delight.
Unlike Eydis, Athena shimmered in a gown of gold embroidery, an otherworldly serenity radiating from her. Yet, a disquieting undercurrent lurked beneath the surface, a hint of power as vast and untamed as the night sky.
What were they doing here?
Eydis scooped Theo into her surprisingly strong arms. "Don't worry, little pup," she murmured, her voice strangely comforting. "You're in the company of monsters now. But at least we're stylish monsters."
As Theo drifted to sleep, a frightening truth settled in. He felt safe cradled by a killer who could snuff out a life in a heartbeat. Somehow, that terrified him more than his betrayal ever had.
