Page 44 of Blood Coven

“Mama,” Juniper warned her mother to stop. “He has shown his desperation to save her; do not push him so far that he will not show up.”

Blaez looked at Juniper, trying to read her, then back to Azalea. “I will not be late.”

“You better not be if you want your pretty little wife to live.”

Blaez tilted his head forward and narrowed his eyes at her. “How do you know my wife is pretty?”

“I assume. A man like you would not settle for less,” she said. She gestured to the door. “You may go now.”

Blaez turned partway, then stopped and straightened out again. He shook his head and looked Azalea dead in the eyes. For a moment, a silence passed over the room, settling deep into the bones of the house, the foundation. “Something to ease her pain, at the very least.”

Azalea opened her mouth to protest, but Juniper stepped in front of her mother. The moment of bitter tension between them was impossible to miss. Blaez could feel it, rippling through the air like hot and cold.

Juniper was firm when she spoke. “Of course—we will give you a temporary cure until you have upheld your end of the bargain. Once that is complete, we will hand over enough to fix her permanently.”

Wordlessly, Azalea rummaged through her cabinets and brought them to a nearby table. She stirred and poured, strange smells and the sounds of herbs grinding filling the room. After a few moments, she turned and handed Blaez a leather pouch with a cork-stop in it. Liquid sloshed within it as Blaez took it, worried it might spill. Clutching it tight to his body, Blaez met Juniper’s eyes and nodded his thanks. He did not do the same for Azalea, who remained prickly and irritable. But Juniper is soft. Juniper is someone who can—like Ana—get anyone to do anything for them. Only she does not appear to abuse it quite like Ana.

Azalea’s voice interrupted him. “Have her drink a quarter of it tonight and another in the morning when the sun rises. Repeat in the evening, then in the morning after. There is only enough for two days, and on the third day, when you return, I promise you she will be safe. She will survive.”

Although Blaez didn’t like the sound of it, he nodded. He did not have a choice; his answer was always Ana, even if it killed him. He went to the door, feeling sweat prickle under his jacket in the warmth. At the door, with his hand on the knob and the frigid air greeting him like an old friend, he paused. Unsure what he wanted the answer to be, he asked, “In three days… Will I ever see Ana again?”

“Perhaps,” Azalea replied.

30

SILVANIA

THE YEAR OF THE MOON

RED

Red stood above her grandmother’s mangled form. She smiled as she knelt to touch the body; it was still warm. Blood pooled around her gaping wounds, her corpse no longer resembling anything human. But Grandmother was never really human. All her actions were inhumane. Red searched inside of herself, trying to find some feeling of sadness and remorse, but she found nothing. All she felt was gratitude toward the Wolf.

She’d peeked when he stepped out of his clothing and made the transformation. It left her in utter shock. A part of her didn’t believe in the Wolf until she saw him, massive haunches covered in black fur blending into the shadows. Now that she knew the truth, Red wondered how much further she could go. Killing her father was next, but what if she went bigger? Could I rule all of Silvania? she wondered. Could I make a difference?

With Alina, Sorin, Tatiana, and Lilianna at her side and the Wolf at her heels, she could bring peace and order to the spiteful town. A yearning for power, and the desire to keep anyone from hurting another young woman again, raged inside her. Her first assailant was dead, her father would be next. Then who? Mr. Floarea? Every other parent who laid a hand on their children?

She rose from her crouched position, admiring the pulverized carcass of her grandmother once more. Navigating the house with tip-toe precision, as she was so accustomed to doing there, Red reached the front door in her own time. Her face lit up when she made it there, surprised at what faced her when she exited the musty building.

“Alina?”

Red was shocked to see the other girls standing outside, their bare feet digging into the dirt to feel the power of the Earth beneath them. Their hair was a mess, and Tatiana was covered in blood.

“Red!” Alina pushed to the front of the group. Halfway up the stairs to the porch, the two girls met in an embrace.

Red smelled lavender and blood in her hair. Such a strange combination. The scent of something so soothing paired with something so volatile.

“I thought I would never see you again,” Alina said, holding Red’s cheeks in her hands. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I am.” Red looked at the girls one by one. Then she asked, “What are you doing here?”

“We came to rescue you,” Sorin said, scrutinizing the man on the porch, “but it appears you have things well under control.”

Red broke away from Alina and glanced over at the man. “This is the Wolf.”

Lilianna beamed up at him, then leaned to her sister and murmured, “He’s very handsome.”

Alina strode up to him, jabbing her finger into his chest. “What are your intentions? The stories we have heard about you are inconsistent at best, and from what I can see, you have not laid a hand on Red. What are you doing here?”

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