The Blood Moon Twins
Chapter 136

REMY

"I want to talk to Julie," I said after walking into my dad's office. It was early still, so no one would know that Caulder and the others were gone yet. It wouldn't be long before the pack was fully awake, and people would start questioning why Harper wasn't in school or why Blade wasn't at training.

I decided this was the best distraction I could come up with. I knew my dad wouldn't like me talking to Julie, not after everything she had done to me. If I could get him to agree to it, it would distract him away from the others a little longer. Not only that, but it would give me the chance to have the conversation I've been wanting with her.

Every time I brought it up in the past, Caulder and Blade shot the idea down. They worried Julie would try to do something to me. I understood where their fears were coming from, but at the same time, they were being overprotective. Julie would be locked up and restrained during the conversation, I was sure others would be present, and Julie had never been strong. She didn't practice and train like other werewolves, always assuming someone else would protect her if anything happened.

I wasn't worried about her in the slightest, especially now that I was back to full strength.

My dad looked up from his desk, lack of sleep resting heavy on his eyes. It was clear he hadn't been sleeping much lately. He was the alpha, and the lives of his pack were in his hands. I wouldn't be able to sleep with that kind of pressure lingering over me, either. I hadn't been sleeping much recently.

"I don't think that's a good idea." He kept his voice calm and steady, and it felt like he was just mimicking the words of another. There was room to convince him why I thought it was a good idea.

I shut the door behind me and moved across the room to his desk. "Julie had been working with Draven for several days. She knew her way around that bunker. Surely she overheard something about Draven's plans." "We've tried to talk to her. She hasn't spoken a word since her first day there." He spouted off facts, but he wasn't saying no.

"Maybe that's why I should talk to her. Maybe there's something I can say that'll get her to open up." I didn't know exactly why I wanted to talk to Julie. Part of me still felt bad that she was mated to someone as terrible as Draven. Another part of me wanted to demand her to explain why she was so willing to have Harper killed. Harper had done nothing to her. Part of me also hoped that she had seen or heard something useful in her time spent with Draven, something that would give us an edge over the demonic vampire. Whatever the reason, I hadn't been able to get the idea of a conversation off of my mind.

"Ask Caulder to go with you. I don't want you going alone," my dad said.

My heart immediately raced, but I forced myself to keep a mask on. I knew this was a possibility. "I heard Caulder and Harper up late, doing, um..." I let my voice trail off, implying that I had heard something I hadn't. I knew this subject would make my dad uncomfortable and distract him. Hopefully it was enough. "I think they are still sleeping, and I don't exactly want to interrupt them in case..." I let my voice trail off again. I was sure it was a convincing act.

"Right," my dad said, not pressing anymore. "We shouldn't ask Mason or Rie. After what Julie did to Harper, they would be too on edge. Last time Mason tried to interrogate Julie..." He paused and shook his head. "What about Scythe?" I asked.

"He's busy contacting other packs, and I don't want to distract him from that." He hummed as he thought of a solution. "What about your mother?"

My body tensed at the suggestion, and I wasn't sure why. Things were better between my mom and me, so I didn't have a logical reason for her not to come. "Sure." My breathing grew shallow as I agreed to it.

My dad studied me for a moment. "It would probably be good for you two to spend some time together anyway."

I felt like he was reading my head somehow, and it made me fidget in place. I pulled a smile to my lips. "I'll ask her." I was the distraction after all.

-

BLADE

The city felt empty. My chest stirred, trying to figure out what was going on, but part of me worried that Draven had moved his coven, knowing I would come after him. Even with the amount of vampires we killed, there still should've been some signs of activity in the city.

I didn't want to say my suspicions out loud yet, not until we had more proof. We needed to stay on alert, as if Draven's spies were all over this city.

We moved through the shadows once again. Harper and Caulder weren't as stealthy as I needed them to be, but they were not used to the ground of the city, the movement of bodies in a high traffic zone. They were doing their best, and making a comment wouldn't help them.

The sky was starting to lighten with the whisper of morning, so more and more people emerged from their homes to rush to work. A city that never slept was a perfect place for a vampire to hide in plain sight. No one would care about a few extra bodies roaming under the cover of night.

It wasn't long before we reached the alley that led to the basement where Draven ran his operations. The scent of vampires was faint, barely there. If there was anyone left, they hadn't been through this alley in days, if not weeks.

I looked at Caulder, who was waiting for my signal. I didn't sense any danger, and that almost worried me more. If Draven was expecting me to come after him, this could have been a trap I was walking into-we were walking into. I didn't have to enter the coven's base. I didn't have to risk Caulder and Harper getting harmed because of my need for answers, my need for revenge.

I didn't want to admit it out loud, but that was what the churning in my chest was. It wasn't a new feeling for me. The day I realized I was my own person and I had my own agency, the feeling first emerged. I wanted to make my father and Draven pay for what they put me through, what they made me think I deserved for my entire life.

I had spent many years angry and plotting for the right time for revenge. Even when I met Remy, I had only gone to that small town following the terror Draven had tried to release onto the world. I had wanted to foil his plans.

Meeting Remy was the first time that the stirring in my chest had settled. She showed me there was someone out there who loved me for me, and I started imagining a world free of pain. I saw a happy future with Remy. For the first time ever, I saw a purpose for myself that didn't involve my family in any way. I didn't need revenge. I just needed Remy.

But then Draven came and tried to take her away from me. I couldn't settle that need for revenge, no matter how long I held Remy in my arms.

"Should we stake out the place?" Caulder asked after several minutes of silence.

We could go home, avoiding any risk at all, because I had a real home to go to.

But Caulder came here with me because he believed in me. He believed this was the right choice to change the future.

No-this wasn't just about revenge. It was about preserving the family I had found.

I nodded my head. "Yes. Be careful. Don't let your guard down, no matter what you find. It could be a trick."

Harper and Caulder both acknowledged this with a quick nod. I moved from shadow to shadow, entering the alleyway. Still nothing but the smell of blood that had been long washed away. I didn't think about whose blood that was. It wouldn't change anything, and it would only make me sick to know how many humans perished unnecessarily because of the cruelty that was Draven.

I tested the door handle, not surprised when it just cracked open. There were no locks or guards. I inhaled deeply, taking in the smell of must, blood, and death. I didn't smell any life, and I knew the coven was long gone. That didn't mean the danger was gone, though.

I slipped inside, moving carefully, in case there were any traps lying in wait for us. No sounds, no unusual scents, nothing. The deeper I moved through the halls of my nightmares, the emptier it felt. My chest hollowed, creating space for the anger I felt inside.

I knew this shouldn't have worked. Draven was smarter than me. Stronger too. He was everything I wasn't, and I had no idea how I was supposed to defeat him. I felt small and inferior the deeper inside I moved. I felt like the small child I once was, afraid that I had no control over my future.

I felt myself spiraling, the memories haunting me and tearing down everything I had become.

I didn't even realize I had stopped walking until Caulder placed a hand on my shoulder. "It'll be okay. Chances weren't high of us finding Draven vulnerable enough to take him out, anyway."

The spiral stopped. I looked at Harper and Caulder, who were both watching me closely. I wasn't the boy I used to be, and seeing the worry on their faces reminded me that my life was different now. I had people who actually cared about me. Draven no longer controlled my life, and one way or another, I would find a way to defeat him and stop him from taking my future away from me.

I was about to suggest we leave, when I heard soft footsteps around the corner. We weren't alone.