Page 82 of The Blood Moon Hunt

"What will happen if I do this?" I ask, my voice trembling.

"The Order and those bound to it will be destroyed. And the powers they stole from us will be returned."

"Returned?"

"Yes. Warlocks will be no more," they say in unison.

“All of the warlocks?” I ask, my voice trembling. “You want me to destroy them all?”

“Yes,” the first witch replies, her voice sharp. “They destroyed us. They burned us alive, consumed our souls. It is only fair that they face the same fate.”

I take a step back, my heart racing with fear and confusion. “But... I don’t want to destroy them. There should be balance. I don’t want to become what they are.”

The witches’ expressions darken, their anger palpable. “Balance?” one of them spits. “There was nobalance when we were burning! There was no mercy when they consumed our souls!”

I shake my head, tears welling in my eyes. “No. There has to be another way. I won’t do it.”

“There is no other way!” one of the witches snaps, her form flickering with rage. “You must bind them to you, consume their power, and destroy the Order!”

My mind reels as I try to grasp the enormity of what they’re asking. “No,” I say, my voice trembling but resolute. “There is another way. I’ve felt it. I’ve been able to touch their souls without destroying them. I don’t have to kill them. I can break the curse without becoming like you.”

The witches look at me in disbelief, their expressions hardening. “Foolish girl,” one of them sneers. “You think you can undo what centuries of magic could not?”

“Yes,” I reply, my voice stronger now. “I’ve felt it. Their power, their desire—it’s different. I can break the curse without killing them.”

The witches exchange dark glances, their forms flickering like shadows in the wind. “If you fail,” one of them says coldly, “the curse will remain. The warlocks will devour you, just as they devoured us.”

“I won’t fail,” I say, meeting their gazes with newfound determination. “I won’t let them consume me.”

The witches remain silent for a moment, their eyes narrowing in judgment. Then, slowly, they begin tofade, their forms dissolving into the darkness. “We shall see,” the first witch whispers, her voice echoing as she disappears into the night. "For nothing is at it seems."

The world shifts again, and I’m suddenly back in the clearing, the altar still pulsing beneath my hand. The sounds of the battle return, the shadows closing in around us, but my mind is reeling from what I’ve just seen.

I know what I have to do. I have to bind myself to the warlocks—but not to destroy them. To save them. And to save myself.

As I pull my hand away from the stone, I look around at the others, my heart pounding in my chest. This is the only way.

Now I just have to convince them to trust me.

Chapter

Forty-Five

SELENE

The world around me rushes back in a blur of chaos—shadows screeching, the warlocks battling ferociously, and the air thick with the tension of the Blood Moon rising above us. My heart pounds as the vivid images of burning witches and the grim prophecy of the altar still sear my mind. The witches’ warning rings in my ears:Only by binding myself to the warlocks can the curse be lifted. But it would destroy them.

I swallow hard, forcing myself to push that thought aside. I can’t—won’t—allow them to meet the same fate as the witches, even if that’s what the witches desire. There must be another way.

The altar pulses beneath my fingertips, its energyebbing and flowing like the beat of my own heart. I know I need to act, and fast. The shadows are relentless, and the warlocks are starting to falter. I watch as they fight off the waves of lesser warlocks and the dark creatures, but their strength is fading.

No matter how much power they have, they're struggling against the overwhelming force of the shadows and the curse.

I let the memory of his words wash over me, pushing back the fear that threatens to consume me.Harness it. Don’t fight it.The power is too strong to hold back, and trying to control it is futile—I have to move with it, flow with it, as Lucien said.

Taking a deep breath, I stop resisting and instead surrender to the surge of energy within me. It thrums, vibrating under my skin like a living thing, untamable and fierce. I let it guide me, like Lucien taught, letting go of the need to control and simply allowing the magic to flow.

I move my hands, feeling the current build, drawing from the chaotic force within. It grows stronger, wild but somehow fluid, and with one sharp exhale, I release it, letting it rush through me like water breaking through a dam.

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