“He’s dead,” laughed Lilith, standing next to the fiery fireplace carved into the stone wall in Eris’s room. Eris had a strong desire to shove her into it, but he still needed her. She just stood there, her body shaking with humor as she filed her stained red nails, poisonous to the touch, looking as far from innocent as inhumanly possible.

“You don’t know that,” he said, glaring at her.

“Oh, please, he was a youngling! Not even a century old. Did you really expect him to honestly handle her?” Eris couldn’t answer, giving her an answer. “Precisely,” she continued, flicking her nail file into the air, her ego flowering, “and a pity too, I rather fancied him.”

“He might not be dead,” he growled, unable to believe the words himself.

“He is Eris.” Eris looked at Shira as she seeped from the walls, her voice leading her appearance. Fully formed, she stood next to him, her skin even paler in the dimly lit room. As usual, she looked like the angel of death, both beautiful and deadly, all dressed in black, her sword close to her hip.

“Told you so,” said Lilith, breaking his reprieve.

“Selene snapped his neck and burnt the body. There is nothing left of him but ash.” Eris’s body shook with fury.

Releasing his rage, he punched the stone wall next to him, cracking the wall and sending small pieces of debris to the ground. Selene was killing everyone, just like she promised.

“You could send—”

“No.” He relished the way she flinched, her hands by her side. Yes, now she was back in her place, and she had every right to fear him. Countless times, he had made it clear to her that she was expendable and only good to him as long as she followed her orders.

“Eris, be reasonable,” said Shira, placing a gentle hand on his arm. “She won’t kill him, and he always knows where she is. He’s always watching.”

“No.”

“She won’t kill him.” The voice sent a chill down his spine. It was cold, hollow, just like the coal black eyes that followed. Everyone turned to Evida the Puppet as she pulled herself away from the string of shadows on the wall. Evida was a shell of a being, had been ever since they first met, her eyes moving but not seeing. Lifeless.

“She won’t kill him,” Evida repeated. “If she sees, she might come back.”

Eris looked away from her, finding her presence unnerving, and thought it over. He hated to admit it, but they were right. Selene wouldn’t kill him, but other things could happen. Negal had warned him as much.

“If I do, we can’t send him alone,” said Eris, giving him.

“I’ll gladly accompany him,” Lilith smiled, batting her eyes up at him.

“She’ll kill you in seconds, and he’ll help. No, I’ll go.”

“Why not bring the whole coven?” suggested Shira, “it’ll be one big happy reunion. It might even make her feel outnumbered.”

“Again, no. Enough of them would stay out of it to remain loyal to us both, and those loyal to her would strike against those loyal to me. More would die, and Selene would kill her way to me. I would do the same.” He paused for a moment, looking at the beam of moonlight cascading through his window where the dust glittered and danced on the floor. “Shira, it’s been over three hundred years, right?”

“Yes, so–” Shira stopped herself, understanding dawning on her face. “I see.”

“When is the next Eclipse?”

“A week.”

“Good, we’ll wait a week then. In the meantime, get him back here and keep him locked up.” Giving Lilith a pointed look, she nodded, submissive. Soon, he would get his sister back.

***

“I need to warn her,” said Jeanette as she paced around Blake’s room, biting down on her lower lip. Blake sat on the edge of his bed, staring at her like she was insane.

“What do you want to do, Jeanette? Lilith and her stupid minions are watching us like hawks. We can’t do anything about it.”

“She can’t know!” she exclaimed. Blake shot her a warning look, flicking his eyes to the bedroom door, his mouth set in a firm line. “It’ll kill her,” she continued in a lower, more defeated tone. “She can’t see him, Blake. It will destroy her to see what he has become. We need to warn her, I need to warn her.”

“You don’t think telling her will break her heart?”

Jeanette threw her hands up, exasperated. “Well, I can’t just sit here and do nothing; short of killing him myself, I don’t have any other options. I want her to continue to run and hide.”

“You know, Selene, she’s a fighter; she won’t continue to run and hide forever. It’s the whole reason we’re in this mess, to begin with. It’s why you used to hate her. Selene will come if he doesn’t go.” The words hung in the air. She hated the fact that Blake was right. Selene was a fighter, always had been, even when they were human, children, just trying to survive the cold winters, the harsh summers, the classes, and then the attacks.

Selene had walked into a trap. Selene was tired of running and would soon turn to fight. And she would do it again and again, no matter the costs. Jeanette used to hate that about Selene, but now she adored it, wishing she could be more like her, wishing she could just run and fight. But she couldn’t, not now, not like this.

“I can’t just sit here, Blake. He’s going to go to her, and she’ll fall into this mess all over again and come out broken. I can’t…I need to do something.”

Sighing, Blake stared at her, his honey colored eyes revealing the same sentiments. “Very well, but be quick about it.”

Jeanette gave him a solemn look, unhappy with her task, and muttered a simple, “I will” before leaving the room.