“No, no, no, no, no.” I cradle Raven’s head in my lap. Her eyelids are shut, her skin as pale as the snow outside, her lips stained crimson with my blood. She looks deader than the undead. Even her chest isn’t moving. But that doesn’t mean much since vampires only breathe out of instinct. “Please, please open your eyes. We just completed the first step. That’s farther than we’ve ever gotten before.”

There are three steps to the curse, and even after centuries and centuries, we’ve never gotten this far, never gotten to the point where she wanted to drink my blood and let the blood frenzy consume her. Then, the instant she completes the first step, she blacks out. I’d worry the curse reset, but no smoke has appeared and we’re still here, in the Land of Moonlight.

No, something else caused the blackout.

I smooth my hand over her head. “Raven, come on, sweetheart. Open your eyes. We still have a long ways to go. We’ve never gotten this far before, so maybe that’s a sign we’re going to make it out of this. You need to wake up in order for that to happen.”

When she remains silent and lifeless in my arms, I try a new tactic—speaking through our thoughts.

“Raven, can you hear me?”

Nothing.

“Raven, please, wherever your mind’s stuck right now, just fight it and come back, okay? Don’t give in.” I move her off my lap and onto the pillow so I can send for Kingsley and maybe Ava.

I may not be a huge fan of the witch, but she’s very powerful and might be able to help with this. The only reason we bring her with us when we leave the castle is to protect us and cast spells when needed. Well, that and Raven’s mother is friends with her mother, and both witches are aware of the curse—everyone who was at the original crowning party is aware.

“We have a huge problem.” Kingsley storms into my tent as I’m climbing off the bed.

He takes one look at me, shirtless and covered in blood and bite marks, and his brows lift as he staggers to a halt. “Fuck, did she just complete the first step?”

“I think so.” I cup the back of my neck. “But then she passed out, and I—”

“Shh …” he hisses, raising his hand as he sniffs the air. Then he mouths, “We’re not alone.”

When I steal a whiff of the air, the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. He’s right. How did I not notice? Then again, how the hell could I notice anything else when Raven was feeding off me like that … the way her teeth felt sinking into my flesh? Nothing has ever felt that good since… well, since before the curse.

I reach for the knife tucked into my ankle holster and climb back onto the bed beside Raven, ready to attack any creature who comes near her. “I can’t tell what it is by the scent, but my senses are a little hazed over right now. Are you picking up anything?”

He sniffs the air as he draws his sword from his waist holster. “It’s definitely a vampire.”

I cock a brow. “Are you sure you’re not just smelling us?”

He rolls his eyes as he circles the room with his sword aimed out in front of him. “I’ve been stuck smelling both of you for centuries. I know your scent like the back of my hand, and this isn’t it.” He takes another whiff of the air. “No, but I definitely know this scent.” His shoulders heave as he sighs. “Nadine, I know you’re out there, so you might as well come out.”

I groan. “Please tell me you’re fucking with me.”

“I wish I was, but unfortunately, the bitch is back.” He keeps his sword out but lowers it to his side.

“Hey, I take that offensively.” Nadine enters through the flap of the tent with her typical smirk.

“Good. I meant it offensively,” Kingsley says with an exhausted sigh. “Why the hell are you here? You’re not part of this anymore.”

“Actually, I am, in case you’ve forgotten.” She ambles into the room, her high heels scuffing the dirt. “And maybe I just came here to pay my roots a visit. After all, Raven isn’t the only one with moonlight blood in her.” She pushes past Kingsley and makes her way to the foot of the bed. She tilts her head to the side as she assesses Raven passed out on the bed, then me, kneeling in front of her, my chest branded with teeth marks. “Looks like someone finally passed the first step. Perhaps if you weren’t interrupted, you might have made it to step two.” She touches her finger to her lips. “Such a shame.”

My eyes narrow into slits. “Did you do something to her?”

She gives a lazy shrug. “So what if I did?”

I rise to my feet with my knife in hand. “Why would you do that? You may have just set us back.”

She flashes me one of her infamous bitchy smirks. “Who says I even want to break the curse?”

I inch toward her, growling lowly, “Do you enjoy being stuck in this hell where you don’t get to be chosen as queen?”

She pokes me in the chest. “You and I both know being queen will never happen because you took that chance away from me.”

“Like you were ever supposed to be queen.” I get in her face. “I know you somehow rigged that Eternal Reading.”

She smiles sweetly. “Careful, Rhyland. If Fate hears you question his decisions, he just might curse you to a worse life.”

I laugh lowly. “Like there’s anything worse than this.”

“Oh, things could get a lot worse.” As her gaze flicks to Raven, I grip the knife tighter. “You could be forced to live this life repeatedly without the love of your life.” She rolls her eyes. “Although, after what she did to you, I still don’t get how you can be in love with her.”

“It wasn’t her fault,” I grit out. “I never should’ve left her that night and went to dance with you. I should’ve stayed with her.”

“I would’ve chopped off her head if you did,” she bites out. “And then kept you alive just to watch you suffer.”

“You’ve already made everyone suffer by pretending like this curse doesn’t exist,” I seethe. “Every life cycle, you choose to act like you’re not part of this instead of helping us succeed—you choose to live this life.”

“That’s because I love watching you all suffer,” she growls. Then she quickly collects herself and moves back, smoothing her hands over her blonde hair. “Besides, I don’t think I was dealt a bad hand in this. Every life cycle, I get to help torture my pathetic, backstabbing little sister until she’s announced queen. That only lasts for about a week, though, and then everything goes back to normal.”

“Nothing is normal about this, Nadine.” I shake my head furiously. “We live the same vampire damned life over and over again, watching Raven suffer while the rebellions grow and torment the land. You may be pissed off about what happened that night at the crowning ceremony, but you need to get over it and start realizing this curse will eventually end, whether because we break, because the queen decides to just kill us all, or because the rebellions take over and we all end up getting slaughtered.”

She shrugs, leaning against a beam. “That’s not my problem.”

“Yes, it is.” My hands ball into fists. “You’re part of this, too.”

“Not anymore.” She smirks at my confusion. “Didn’t you wonder how I snuck in here without you noticing and knocked my little sister out?” She steps toward me. “Or how I snuck into the castle? Or did you not figure out that was me yet?” Her smile broadens. “By that stupid, stunned look on your face, I’m guessing you didn’t.”

In one swift movement, Kingsley and I have our swords aimed inches away from her throat.

“How did you do it?” Kingsley demands. “The creature sneaking around the castle was invisible.”

Her lips curl into a grin. “Magic.” Then she elevates her hand in front of her. “Now get out of my face so I can take my sister to the queen. It’s time for the curse to come to an end.” Sparks shoot from her fingertips and shower over me and Kingsley.

We’re launched back, through the air, and out the sides of the tent and into the snow. The impact sends my knife flying from my fingers and into a snow pile several feet back.

“Shit.” I scurry to my feet and race back toward the tent, but an invisible force sends me sailing backward again.

As I leap to my feet, Kingsley rushes toward the tent’s entrance, but then he hits the invisible wall and soars backward, landing on his ass beside me.

“She’s put some sort of wall around the tent,” he growls as he jumps to his feet. “I don’t know how. Vampires aren’t supposed to be able to do that.”

“That’s because she’s a witch and a vampire now.” When he gives me a skeptical look, I add, “I’ve been living with Wiccan powers for all this life cycle; I know what magic looks like.” I move toward the tent with my hand raised. Once I feel the invisible wall, I come to a stop. “I can feel the magic channeling off the shield she put around the tent. Dammit, she’s really powerful.”

The snow crunches under Kingsley’s boots as he moves up beside me. “How can Nadine be a witch? She’s a vampire.”

“How do I have Wiccan powers?” I point out. “Because she wanted me to have them this life cycle.”

“You think she gave Nadine witch powers this time around, too?” Kingsley questions with a raised brow. “I think we would’ve noticed that a while ago. It’s not like Nadine would hide something like that.” He rolls up the sleeves of his shirt, then lines his palm to the invisible shield. “She’s the kind of vampire who would show that off.”

“I know.” I pace back and forth. Knowing Raven is locked in the tent with Nadine is driving me to the brink of insanity. I need to get in there somehow, but my powers are too weak. “Maybe she was created recently and that’s why.”

“Which would make her one of the created.” When the shield zaps his hand, he jerks back, wincing. “Fuck, that hurt.” He shakes out his hand while eyeballing the entrance. “If she is, that only shows how bad the rebellions are spreading.” He storms off in the opposite direction.

“Where are you going!” I call out. I sure as hell am not leaving this spot.

“To get Ava and see if she can get through the shield,” he shouts, zooming off toward the far set of tents.

“Fuck!” I growl out to the iridescent sky. How can we go from finally, finally completely step one to this? It’s situations like this that remind me how much we’re not in control, and that makes me feel so hopeless.

But I won’t give up.

I’ll never give up until that damn curse is broken.

I turn around and search the snow for my knife, only to realize another strange occurrence is going on.

The land is empty, quiet, still. Where are my guards? They should’ve been here by now, ready to protect Raven and me. Either they’re knocked out like Raven, gone, or something even more grave. Which means the current vampire king and queen are more unprotected than we have ever been.