Selene was weak, so weak. All the running and then…oh, she wished she could push the memory away, but it was still too fresh a wound. Nivette, her friend, was dead, and her blood…Gods, her blood was on Selene’s hands, her clothes, speckled along her skin and hair. Stumbling along, down the empty streets of Seraphim, she wished Nivette had just let her be, lied to her brother, and left her alone.

Her brother.

The very thought that Eris had sent Nivette after him made her hate him even more.

Voices brought her away from her thoughts, driving her into the darkness of an alleyway. A girl laughed, and it filled up the air, coaxing the Blood Hunger within her. Selene gripped her stomach. She was so weak from running, from hiding, from fighting.

She was so hungry. Her fangs throbbed, and she gripped the brick wall behind her. Waiting there, she stood until the laughter had faded alongside those who carried it. A part of her wanted to kill the happy couple. The girl was nuzzled up to him, her arm around his waist, and her head on his chest. A moment Selene would never have with Jason. Tears joined the thought, running down her cheeks as she made her way back down the street.

Continuing down the quiet street, she made her way to the house. Yellow street lamps lit the way, flickering and humming, making the shadows dance around her, reminding her that her brother could be anywhere, could be watching and waiting at any moment.

Make a right, then a left, and down straight two more blocks, she kept reminding herself.

It should have been a quick trip, but it wasn’t, not in her state, and her thoughts, her worries, and paranoia only made the trip longer. All she wanted to do was postpone giving Jason’s mother the news. Selene wished more than anything that it was different, that her brother was dead, not Jason.

Wiping away her tears, trying to straighten herself up, she knocked on the plain blue door. The moment Uriel answered the door, she collapsed into his arms, noticing the broken windows, the shattered frames, the dead body across the hall. Selene hugged him, thankful that he was at least alive.

“Oh my heavens,” muttered Cecilia, closing the door behind them before helping Uriel carry her to the sofa. Uriel leaned over her, examining her face, telling everyone else to stay back. Swallowing, Selene tried to ignore the pulsing vein in his neck that throbbed loudly, making her ears ache.

“Selene, where…whose blood is this?” asked Uriel, sitting next to her. Leaning her head on his shoulder, she noticed a hole in the wall where the rune had been.

“It’s Nivette’s. She should have let me go,” she muttered, her lips barely moving. A moment passed before a small, pitiful laugh escaped her chapped lips.

“Selene,” began Uriel, bending down on the ground before her, “you’re not making any sense.”

“Eris got Jason. Jason—he’s gone. I was going to kill Eris, but I couldn’t; I promised my dad I would look after him. I failed him and you. I’m sorry. I told him, I told Eris that I would kill him if he came looking for me, and I said I would kill anyone he sent. He sent Nivette, and she wouldn’t let me go. S–she didn’t give me a choice.” Selene stared down at her blood-covered self, found herself shaking, and let herself cry again. She wanted to tear off her skin, becoming something new, rise from the ashes of her very being, but only in death would she be able to escape who she was. But Selene was too weak to die on her own, and her brother had already left her, had already shed his skin without her.

“She wouldn’t let me go, Uriel. So we fought, and Nivette, she wouldn’t give up, she kept coming at me, and I–I was so tired of fighting her, of trying to run. So I killed her.” Uriel’s arms wrapped around her firmly, stilling her sob-wracked body.

“So, my son is dead.” Looking up from Uriel, Selene stared up at his wife, Jason’s mother, her guilt rising.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I tried! I thought he would be safe. I thought I could keep him safe. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be Selene. I’m partly responsible for my sons’ deaths. I should have listened to him and now, because I thought I knew better, he’s dead.” Tears began to trickle out of her eyes, and hugging herself, she looked away. Uriel stayed by Selene, his head down, his hand holding hers.

“So what now?” asked Nicholas gravely, hugging Cecilia.

“Now she goes into seclusion,” came a voice. Everyone jerked, and Selene saw Gabrielle and Hetiro enter the living room, staring at her. “She needs to hide and change her identity.”

Uriel looked up at them, his jaw set. “She stays here,” he said firmly.

Gabrielle shook her head. “She cannot, and neither can any of you.”

“What do you mean?” asked Cecilia, gripping Nicholas’ arms around her.

“He’ll come for you to find her; it’s not enough to just hide her. He will tear the world apart to find her. Selene is his sister, his savior, his downfall.” Gabrielle’s cold eyes met Selene’s sympathetically. Selene wished she could argue, but nothing had gone exactly as planned, and she was too weak to fight a hollow point.

“I have a plan,” said Hetiro. “The psychic at the King’s Court said it would work, but it will only work if you are all willing to agree to the terms.” Everyone knew there was no choice, that their lives were in danger, so without hesitation, they nodded as one.