Page 62 of Moon Cursed

I shook my head, finally understanding why Edric thought I was crazy. He truly believed only one person needed to die, when I knew the number was north of thousands.

Sighing, I sat up. “Edric, I’m going to tell you the rest. I’m going to tell you everything, and when I’m done”—Nyx’s words floated through my mind—“I need you to believe me. That’s it. Just believe and trust me.”

All the racing thoughts at his end of the bond quieted. “Okay. I’m listening.”

Taking a deep breath, I held it, then slowly let it go. “You and I both agree that the shadow isn’t a werewolf, correct?”

“Absolutely,” he replied without pause. “No werewolf alive has the power to steal souls. Some other kind of god cursed someone with that horrific power.”

“Exactly. I can’t completely rule out a fae, but I’ve suspected for a long time that a demigod is responsible for all this.”

“A demigod?”

My head bobbed stiffly. “It’s the only thing that makes all the pieces fit together. The demigod dominion is the only dominion the werewolves are friendly with. We’ve done the interdominion exchange program for decades. My dad did it when he was young. He told me about the demigod world, Olympia, and their amazing powers.

“People that can boil your blood with one touch, or shapeshift into dragons. People who can make you fall in love with the first person you look at, and people who can see the future.”

“The Golden Age Prophecy!” I didn’t have to see Edric to know he bolted upright. “Badr asked how the council could know the outcome of Luame’s prophecy before you did. But a whole fucking world of prophets could’ve known.”

“A werewolf who can steal souls? No. But a demigod with terrible power, knowledge of prophecies, and a werewolf bestie they made when they were young? That I can believe,” I replied. “That is very, very possible.”

“How possible? How many members of the alpha council did the interdominion program?”

“All of them except for Sunella, and yes, that includes Cygnus.”

“By the gods... So, you’re thinking this isn’t a war between alphas and omega. It’s a war between werewolves and demigods? Even though they’ve been our allies for centuries?”

I shook my head. “I believe it’s much bigger than that, Edric. Think about it. Luame is a wolf goddess, and if we’re honest, a weak one. She’s not half as strong as she was back in the day when everyone on the planet believed and worshiped the old gods. That’s why she has to live on in us, just like the Olympian gods live on in the demigods.

“I think that the only part of the future that Luame sees is our future. The future of the werewolves. The Golden Age of the Werewolves,” I explained. “But what if the Olympian gods are showing their people a different prophecy? A different future. I mean, they’d have to be because otherwise—”

“—why would a demigod help the alpha council fulfill a prophecy that has nothing the fuck to do with them,” Edric finished. “A prophecy that hurts them. Because if we’re the ruling species on earth, it means they’re not.”

“And they want to be the ruling species on earth,” I cried. “Edric, my father told me that the demigods believe the only way to return the Olympian gods to Mount Olympus is for the demigods to spread far and wide, and repopulate the earth with true believers and worshipers of their gods. But all that spreading and repopulating is impossible for them for the same reason it’s impossible for us—

“The fae,” we said at the same time.

“Yes,” I shouted, throwing my hands up. “So, imagine for a second that you’re a demigod and you get a vision of a whole generation of werewolves born with incredible, amazing, FAE-killing powers. What would you do?

“My guess? You call up a certain soul-stealing friend of yours, and hatch a plan.”

“Fucking hell, Daze. Are you saying the shadow is manipulating the council? Steering them into committing these horrible acts against their own people, all because it’ll achieve the ultimate end of wiping out the fae?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. The only future we’re seeing is the Golden Age of Wolves, but the shadow sees what comes after. When they make the wolves strong enough to kill the fae, and then they suck the souls out of the wolves and make themselves strong enough to kill everyone, then they’ll rule all dominions on earth and on Mount Olympus.”

“But why? Why like this? Why turn us against each other? Why not just steal our powers now if they’re going to do it anyway!”

“Because they’re weak and overstretched by their own never-ending war. They don’t have the money, time, or resources to be at war with us and the fae. And because if it all goes wrong, no one will ever know they were even involved. It’s the wolves that’ll go down in history as the monsters.”

“I— This— What am I supposed to say here, Daze? How can you even know this? It’s all a guess.”

“When you’ve stewed and pickled in hatred and vengeance for as long as I have, you get a peek into the vile, depraved minds of the enemies you’re determined to destroy.” My fists balled. “This is more than a guess, Edric. I know this is what the shadow’s planning, because as someone who’s planning to slaughter all my fucking enemies and take over the world... it’s exactly what I’d do if I were them.”

Edric’s lips were closed, but his mind was loud. He rushed through every alternative, justification, and explanation he could think of, but in the end—

“Okay.” Resignation hung heavy in his mind. “I believe you and... I trust you.”

A tight knot of frustration and pain unwound in my throat. Even though I asked this of him, I didn’t think he’d give it to me.

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