The Blood Moon Twins
Chapter 133

REMY

"I still don't like this," I admitted to Blade when it was just him and me in the room. My stomach felt like it had a million little pebbles in it, grating against each other. I didn't want Blade to go, even though I understood why he wanted to, and I couldn't argue against his logic.

Blade placed his hands on my hips and pulled me towards him. He placed a kiss on my forehead, making my heart flutter. His actions made me feel better and worse at the same time. I never wanted to leave his arms.

"I will come back to you. I promise," he whispered in my ear. "Caulder won't let me do anything that will make me break that promise."

"You better come back. If you don't..." I swallowed the rest of my words. I wouldn't speak them into existence.

Blade's grip tightened on me, and I could feel his hesitation. I knew if I asked him to stay in this moment, he would. I could convince him not to go with my lips, and I opened my mouth to beg him to stay.

But no words came out. Deep down, I knew Blade was doing this for more reasons than he had admitted. I didn't doubt that he wanted to change our future by cutting off the head of the snake before it could strike. He wanted to try to stop the war from ever happening, or at least remove the vampiric aspect of it.

However, I could feel his desire to face his past. He wanted to return to the place he was born to confront how he came into the world and what he had been forced to become. I couldn't ask him to give that up for me, as much as I wanted him to stay. I wanted to go with him, but I knew Blade wouldn't go if I insisted. I just had to trust Caulder would protect him like I would.

"I will be back in a few days," Blade said, pulling away just enough to look at me.

I lifted onto my toes to kiss him, and his body instantly reacted to my touch. I slid my arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. He explored my mouth, sending a raging fire through my core. I wanted him. I wanted the bright future with him that I now knew was possible. Whatever it took, we would make it happen.

Rina said it was up to me to make sure the power surge created through the mating process with Blade didn't break me. Blade and I had talked it through, and when we felt ready, when there wasn't the risk of hurting anyone else around us, and when our lives were not being threatened by those searching for the power, we would take the risk and mate with each other.

Get through the war first, or stop it from ever happening, and then Blade and I could take the dive into our future.

His hands ran up my sides, sending shivers throughout my body. I didn't want to wait. I wanted him here, now, and forever. But we agreed to wait a little longer.

I pulled away from him, my breath heavy. I knew I was just afraid of losing him, so I wanted to lose myself in him while he was still here. I couldn't go back on our agreement.

"I don't have to go," Blade whispered, rubbing his thumbs over my cheeks. It was soothing and comforting, and I could tell he was getting just as lost in the moment as I was. "You have answers you are looking for," I said softly.

He opened his eyes, and the gold flecks in his irises seemed to be floating around. I felt like I was looking into his soul, seeing how truly lost and broken he felt before he met me. He needed to return to his home to understand that the boy who was unloved by the people who should have loved him the most did not define him and did not control him.

"I have a future to fight for," he said back.

Our lips crashed together again, and this time he picked me up and carried me over to the bed. We both knew we would not go all of the way, but there was still time before Caulder and Blade had agreed to sneak out together, and we were going to spend every moment of it in each other's arms.

-

CAULDER

"I'm going with you," Harper said, already shoving clothes into a backpack.

"It's too dangerous," I tried to argue. I tried to grab the bag from her, but she pushed my chest away from her stuff and pointed her finger in my face.

"Don't give me that. I told you that I'm not leaving your side. If you insist on going through with this ludicrous plan, then I'm going with you. It's as simple as that," Harper said. She was pissed. Her jaw was clenched tight, and she was staring at me with daggers in her

eyes.

"We are walking into a lion's den. I won't be able to focus if you are at my side, and Remy will need your help covering for us." I didn't want Harper to put herself at the same risk that Blade and I were doing. "Besides, I'm going just to make sure Blade doesn't get himself killed. I can shift him away from vampires and out of danger. You and I both know it will break Remy if Blade doesn't come back."

"Then I'll be there to make sure both of you idiots don't get yourselves killed." Harper continued packing her bag, slipping in some of her daggers she trained with. We focused mostly on werewolf training, but for the incidents where we were caught in a position where we couldn't shift to protect ourselves, or shifting was too dangerous at the risk of a human discovering the truth, all warriors trained in hand to hand combat and small weapon use.

"Harper, please." I didn't even want to put myself at this risk, but I knew Blade would go no matter what any of us said to him. I saw a determination in his eyes that I recognized. There was only one person who could sway him to stay, and I wasn't even sure if she had that much power. At least with me by his side, I could protect Blade and bring him home to my sister. I also hoped to find some sort of edge against Draven, a weakness we could exploit to save our pack from the horrors of war.

Harper zipped her bag up before turning to me again. "No. After we were separated for a month, and then I was kidnapped, I told you I would not be leaving your side again. If you are walking across a minefield, I will be walking with you. If you are jumping off cliffs, I will be holding your hand as we plummet. I'm done standing by like some weak princess that needs to be rescued."

My chest collapsed with my next breath. There was no argument here. I knew Harper was capable of protecting herself, especially with vampires. We fought side by side once, and she killed just as many vampires as I had myself. She would be useful if our stealth mission went to hell.

"I know you don't need to be rescued, but I hope you know I will always be ready to jump in and rescue you," I said, giving up this fight. Harper would come with us, and that was final. Harper's arms fell to her side as the fight left her body. "And I'll be by your side, ready to rescue you in return."

"I sure hope so," I said with a smile filling my face. "I don't like you going into danger. That will never change. But I will never tell you not to do it, as long as I'm by your side."

Harper stepped forward and grabbed my hands. "It'll be you and me together forever. I will fight the world to keep it that way."

"I hope you are ready to fight a hell of a battle, then," I said, pulling her into me.

-

REMY

Caulder and Harper showed up at my room almost thirty minutes late with disheveled hair. It didn't take a genius to figure out why they were late, but I chose not to comment on it. I was happy they were able to enjoy their relationship to the fullest, even if I wasn't. I wasn't about to make them feel bad about it either.

I looked at Harper, and she was wearing a backpack filled to the brim. "You're going, too?" I said, surprised Caulder hadn't asked her to stay.

"Yep. Like I'm letting him out of my sight when he's going on a stealth mission in the den of vampires," Harper said. The sass dripping in her voice told me she and Caulder had already argued about it plenty, and it wasn't my place to tell her what to do. Blade frowned. "You both understand just how dangerous this is, right? If we get caught-"

"Then you'll need the extra set of teeth," Harper said.

"We had better leave soon," Caulder said, "or we'll miss our opportunity to sneak out."

"I won't be able to keep this from Mom and Dad for long," I said. I had no intentions of ratting them out, but there were only so many lies I could come up with to cover for them, and if anyone tried to link Caulder when he was out of range, it would all be over. "As long as we are far enough away to avoid them stopping us, then it'll be fine. Thank you for taking the heat from us," Caulder said.

My stomach tightened, and I felt sick. I wanted to go with them, but Blade was right. Draven wanted me, and I couldn't stand the idea of him touching me ever again. Even though I didn't want to leave Blade's side, part of me was actually happy to be staying behind. "Come back alive. All of you," I whispered.

Blade kissed me, taking his time. It was only when Caulder cleared his throat that Blade pulled away. It felt too soon, but I knew they had to go. I bit my lip to stop myself from begging them to stay.