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Lake

The sun rises over the field as I look over the horizon, painting the sky with hints of orange and purple. It’s comforting to feel the heat of it as it gets higher and higher.

I haven’t slept since Sylas woke me up last night. The same cannot be said for him—the man practically passed out after the hug we very awkwardly shared.

I smile at the sight of his head resting peacefully on my thighs. He stirs every once in a while, and I rub my fingers through his blonde locks until he settles down. His perfect skin seems to enhance the beauty of his face.

Last night was one of the most touching gestures someone had made for me in a while. Seeing the night sky free of the moon and feeling my ties to it finally be freed took so much pressure off of my chest.

Lynne always revels in the moonlight, not understanding my apprehension toward the Moon Goddess. In her mind, the matter is settled and we need to move on. Then there’s me.

The human—or rather, ~vampire~ side, I should say...not so much.

The misunderstanding coming from my own wolf on the inside and then my mate on the outside has always made me feel so alone and isolated.

Sylas is different, though. Granted, if he was a wolf, he’d probably feel differently on the matter, but that’s beside the point. He picked up on my subtle hints of disdain for the moon and showed me the stars instead.

Not even Derrick understood me so well.

~Derrick.~

My vision slips out of focus and into a blur as my mind flips to my mate. The torture and pain he’s enduring will be nothing compared to what I’m going to put my grandfather through.

The amount of conflict and guilt looming over my head right now is setting off every alarm bell inside my body. The wolf part of me wants to run for the hills and hope that I can somehow free Derrick on my own.

The vampire side of me, the newly awoken—and far from weak—version wants to embrace both Sylas and Derrick as my partners.

Two very different ends of the line were drawn for me, and I’m stuck right dab in the middle of it.

Sylas stirs again, pulling me from my thoughts. I look down to see him rubbing his thumb against my left thigh. His eyes are open as he gazes at the sunrise.

“Good morning, Kjarni,” he says with a yawn.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.” I smile slightly. “How did you sleep?”

Sylas rises and cracks his neck from side to side. His red eyes are dull, but he looks better rested than before.

“Any sleep on you is the best sleep I could ever wish for.”

I roll my eyes, but can’t help a small smile. Sylas wiggles his eyebrows and chuckles as my cheeks fill with heat. I must look like some kind of tomato.

“It’s good to see you smile,” Sylas comments. “It suits you.”

I avert my eyes, feeling suddenly shy. “We really need to make a plan. Derrick isn’t going to rescue himself.”

“Kjarni, I understand you want to go after him, but we can’t do this alone.” Sylas stops himself, finally processing what I said. “Wait, did you say you want to plan this?”

“Yes, yes, you’re right.” I fake-gag. “But only this one time.”

“Wait, say that one more time?” Sylas teases.

“You heard me!” I laugh and lightly punch his shoulder.

As we move deeper into the forest, our surroundings grow more and more familiar. The trees, moss, and large boulders keep catching my attention.

“You good, Kjarni?” Sylas inquires. “You seem like you’re in a fog.”

“This place looks so familiar.” I walk in front of Sylas a couple of steps as a large, skinny rock comes into view. The sharpest edge points to the right of us. “I know this rock.”

I clear the moss away to find an old scratch mark. I run my fingers over the jagged edges of the scratch and inhale deeply. It’s old, but I can smell the scent of Derrick.

~“Now, Firefly, if you ever get lost or something happens to me, you’ll be able to find Lucy. Just follow the way of the sharpest point.”~

“Derrick made these marks when we left his sister’s group four years ago,” I breathe out. “So I could find my way back.”

“Back to where?” Sylas asks, studying the mark.

“After I turned into a hybrid, Lucy forced me out,” I tell him. “To protect her pup and the rest of the group. Derrick left with me, of course.”

Sylas shakes his head. “That’s an awful thing to do to someone.”

“Lucy was acting out of fear.” I shrug. “I can’t be angry.”

“No, Kjarni,” Sylas argues. “Her fears have no basis in fact. Hybrids are far more docile than full vampires.”

I notice that Sylas’s eyes have a black tint to them. His complexion is paler than usual, and his hair is a scruffy mess.

“Are you feeling okay?” I reach out to check him for a fever. I know, stupid, but it’s just instinct after living with Derrick for all these years.

“What are you doing?” Sylas asks as I quickly move my hand away.

“Nothing, never mind.” I grunt in frustration and sling my backpack over my shoulder. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?”

“To get help.”

Sylas looks skeptical. “Do you even know where this place is, Kjarni?”

“Valid question,” I remark. “But yes. In front of the camp’s entrance, there are these two huge sentry trees. There will probably be guards crawling all over the place, but they know me.”

Sylas pauses. “Their leader kicked you out.”

“Look, I don’t like the idea of this either, but Lucy is Derrick’s brother. She’ll help us.” I sigh heavily. “I hope so, anyway. But I can’t go on without being able to say that I tried.”

Sylas still seems reluctant.

“Look, I get it, you don’t have to—”

“Yes, I do,” Sylas takes my bag. “I said that I would do anything it takes to protect you, didn’t I? If following you into this situation does that, then I’m going.”