Jason sat on his sofa, watching the news. He had watched it nonstop, following the coverage of the hunt. Something compelled him to watch, and he knew exactly what: his need to see what Selene was up against.

Cecilia and Nicholas came by often. He hadn’t seen much of Miranda, leaving him more grateful than lonely. Her family had bought her a one-way ticket back home until the Vampyre situation was resolved. It had been weeks since the King’s Garrison came, and now, it was over.

Jason watched Selene give her speech, thanking the Vampyre King’s Garrison and the city’s Enforcers for their help and reassuring the people of Telos of their return to safety. As always, she looked too young to be in charge. However, everything about her —the sorrow in her eyes, the way she held herself, with her head high and her posture straight —said she was centuries old.

Looking at her now, Jason noticed she wasn’t as self-assured as usual. She looked broken. No, that was the wrong word. She looked defeated. The normal sorrow in her eyes was gone, leaving her gaze vacant. The way she talked, her voice had little confidence, cracking as though her throat were sore every few words while her lips twitched in the corners with every pause. Something had happened to break her spirit, leaving her to resemble a shadow of her former self.

Jason watched her leave the podium, replaced by her brother. It still amazed Jason to look at the man who was Selene’s brother. Selene had always spoken highly of him until recently. She always told him how much she loved him and how much he looked out for her. But something had changed between them; even now, he could see it —the distance between them.

Thinking of his own life, he thought of how much he had changed when Selene had entered his life alongside the Shadowlings. The thought made him laugh when he thought about how his uptight mother would react to that. Like most Witches, she didn’t hate the creatures of Darkness, respecting the balance of darkness and light. That did not mean she liked them. She knew most were good and were their protectors from the rabid ones, but the fact that they lived off life and blood meant that sooner or later, the Blood Hunger would take over. She pitied them rather than hated them, and he gave his mother credit for that.

Turning his attention back to the screen, he watched Selene. She stood, her head high, her hands folded behind her back, her eyes centered on her brother. The vacant stare was gone, replaced with something new, pain and regret telling him precisely what was wrong with her.

“Are you Jason?” Jason jumped from the seat, knocking over his coffee table. What was it doing so close to the damn sofa anyway, he thought, trying to ignore the pain in his knee. A girl with hazel eyes was looking at him. He fought against the calming feeling, which warmed him like a blanket.

“Oh my, you do look like Pietro.”

“Who are you?” Jason studied her, unaware if she was a friend or foe.

“Oh! I’m so sorry. I am Eno,” she began with a slight tilt of her head, “Selene sent me. I am one of her Hunters.”

“Why you?”

“Because I’m a Calmer.”

“What?”

The girl, Eno, touched the bridge of her nose with one finger, all the while smiling. “Oh dear, has Selene told you nothing? Before I was a Vampyre, I was a Touched, Born with the ability to sense emotions. When I was turned, my powers were amplified. I can manipulate emotions. My kind are called Calmers as we are most used to calm tense situations.”

“There are more of you?”

“Not many, but that doesn’t matter. Problems have developed.”

“Like what?” he asked, leaning against the wall.

“Hold that thought. Ettore? Vega? Please come out; this involves you as well.” Shadows stepped from the walls, one from next to him, causing him to jump further. Ettore grinned at him, patting him on the shoulder condescendingly.

“Yes?” asked Vega.

“Block off the Shadowrealm.” Jason watched the Shadowling couple exchange worried glances, the smug arrogance vanishing from Ettore’s face. He watched both throw pairs of their daggers across the room. Dark light illuminated each weapon before vanishing, leaving the weapons embedded in his walls, while tendrils of darkness leaked from them, spreading menacingly across the walls. Jason winced, thinking of his deposit —a stupid thought, he admitted, knowing this was a serious situation. Even the smug look on Ettore’s face was gone.

“What’s going on?” asked Jason.

“Eris knows of your existence, and we have yet to establish how and what he will do should he find you. Thankfully, he doesn’t know of your friendship with Selene. Of course, the other bad news is that Eris is responsible for the recent tragedies—”

“Don’t sugar coat it, Eno,” interrupted Ettore hotly. Jason stared at him, more frightened by the anger set alight in his pulsing, red eyes, which burned away his usual calm demeanor. “He killed all those people, didn’t he?”

Nodding, Eno said, “Yes, but that’s not all. Before Selene killed the innocent Roamer Axel, whom Eris set up, he said something about Shadowlings.”

“Shira!” Vega gasped, holding her hand over her mouth. Ettore took her hand and stared at Jason.

“I never thought she would stoop so low and become so desperate,” growled Ettore.

“Can someone explain to me what is going on?” Ettore exchanged a few glances with Eno and Vega. Both girls nodded. Ettore smiled, his smug arrogance briefly returning.

“So unlike Pietro,” began Eno. “You ask, you don’t demand. And you’re not an arrogant jerk.” She offered him a gentle smile, washing him with another wave of soothing calmness. “Eris is the murderer, and Selene, in her fear, killed the only proof of it. And now we know he wasn’t alone. He was working with a Shadowling.”

“And not just any Shadowling,” began Ettore, sighing. “Shira is the sister of the not-so-late Senid, our former King.”

“I thought Shadowlings couldn’t die.”

“Eris found a way,” said Vega, her eyes on the ground, staring at the wood floorboards distantly.

“Is Selene’s life in danger?”

“We don’t know.” All of them exchanged glances with the hope that someone would say no. Jason hoped one of them would say no. “Eris loves his sister,” continued Eno, “but we don’t know anymore how much he loves her. We don’t know what he will do to keep her safe. You didn’t see her after Pietro died. We did, and Eris did. We have no idea what he will do to keep her safe. Besides, Selene is more worried about you than herself.”

“That sounds like her,” said Jason, sliding down his wall and falling onto his floor. He looked back at the screen where Eris and Selene stood. Selene, broken, defeated…torn. “Now what?”

“Now we keep you safe,” said Vega, indicating herself and Ettore.

“While we look after Selene and watch Eris,” continued Eno. Jason nodded, biting down on his nail, watching Selene on the screen, looking like the unassuming sister, the obedient soldier.