The moon remembers her name

the world had changed, i

jagged, supernatural underworld of London was as jarring as a plunge into

d yet, his presence felt entirely too deliberate. He was leaning against the back wall, tall and impeccably dressed in a charcoal suit that cost more than Lena's yearly salary. His d

ives. The silver mark on her chest-the crescent sigil-was pulsing faintly beneath her scrubs, warm

th, accented with a lilt that sounded like wind through dead leaves.

o her throat. The air in the elevator suddenly

perature in the small space dropp

ned, vibrating with a low-frequency roar of restrained violence. The elevator lig

smelled

enses. This wasn't a doctor or a visitor. This was a scavenger. The wolf inside

d. His voice was calm-the kind o

jealousy rather than a death sentence. "Relax, Alpha. I was only admiring the craftsmanship. It's been ages since a Sovere

an m

eck and slammed him into the mirrored wall with enough force to crack the reinforced glass. T

hitting the opposite

pils jagged and inhuman. He leaned closer, his fangs lengthenin

slaughter. "She is not for the Courts. She is not for the Order. Tell your kind that if they even bre

mour sh

ts with slit pupils, his skin etched with faint, glowing green sigils. His fi

d open with a ding tha

eased him, and the creature scrambled out, a blur of gr

ll like a

ating with power, his shoulders heaving,

d him," she said,

that terrifying, lupine rasp. "In 1820, I would have torn his

mmering against her ribs. "That's not reass

rept in. She wasn't just afraid of the monsters in the dark a

rgana had insist

back of a black SUV with tinted windows. "The fae are gossips. By dawn, ev

nhouse tucked between two derelict warehouses in the East End. The building looked like it was leaning against its neig

the air with her fingertips. The wood groaned, and a s

use predates the Great Fire. It's built on a ley line. It's the only

shadows that seemed to move when you weren't looking.

wrapping her arms around herself as she stood i

was busy lighting candles t

heir dying realm. The Order of the Eclipse wants to kill you to maintain the 'cosmic ba

g. "I was just a security guard yesterda

ery lifetime, powerful beings are drawn to you. Not just because you're my mate

d you just let them kill

racked some

. "I burned cities to the ground in the 1400s trying to find the men who took you. I broke treaties older than time itse

d, her eyes filling with

at he suspected his own darkness was the catalyst-that the univ

that smelled of cedar and old

drea

village or a library. This

tarlight and ash. She wasn't wearing scrubs; she was dressed in armor that gleamed like liquid mercury, a cape of

shone like gold. And there, in the

est heaving with exhaustion. He was covered in wounds that would have killed a hundre

ispers in her head. "The balance is breaking, m

r veins-it was absolute.

, the tears freezing on

e it," he

verhead converged on the steel. With a scream that sha

oke sc

k was blaring silver, so bright it illuminated the dusty room. She was drenched i

ot a fragment.

a heartbeat, his eyes wild, his claws already

first time, she didn't see he

e whispered, her v

leaving him as he realized the one thing he fea

down her face. "Not the hunters. Not the wit

see the gold blood still there. "You were

a appeared in the doorway, her face pale, her

e legend says she fell in love with a beast o

cosmic entity. I was the balance. And when I fell in love with you, I broke the laws of my ki

he world from our love. I thought if you died, the curse would end. But I was wrong. I bound us. I bound you to endless su

en hundred years of agony, of searching, of watching

He had been the tether she used

eaching out to touch his h

be," he choked out. "I would do it all again. I would die a

s shattered by the sou

surgical strike. Shards of glass rained into the living room below, followed by a

red. "The martyr and his murderer

a protective blue light. "She's here. The

ng blade. She was pale, her hair like spun midnight, and her eyes were a poisonous, vivid g

le

he ancient house. Her gaze locked onto Lena with

his knees. "You look pathetic. Seven lifetimes and you're still grovelin

ginning-his muscles swelling, his jaw len

ve watched you mourn her, watched you find her, and watched her die. I even helped a few tim

ring until it drowned out the candles. The house groan

that strange, multi-tonal resonance

with green witch-fire. "I am the one who ensures the cycle keep

yours," Lena

r is five minutes away, Lena. Lucien is coming to put you down like the cosm

s, the green fire roar

lt the Sovereign waking up

e center of the room. "This time,

. Gold met silver. The air between them crackle

Hale stopped his car and looked up at the