As my eyelashes flutter open, I half-expect to be as confused as I was in the memory. But as the arched ceiling comes into focus, I realize my mind is clear, that I remember everything that happened before I passed out and the memory that surfaced.

The memory of Kingsley and I kissing. Of Rhyland catching us. Of him making a deal with the queen. How the queen set the entire thing up so her power would grow. How she called me a moonlight abomination.

Why? How do I help her power? And what makes me an abomination? If I ever figured out the answers, I can’t remember now. Just like I can’t remember why I went from devouring Rhyland’s blood to passing out into a memory.

“What in the world happened?” I slowly sit up, rubbing the blurriness from my eyes. As soon as my vision comes into focus, I suddenly wish I’d gone blind. “Nadine … What’re you doing here?”

“It’s about damn time you woke up.” She’s sitting on a chair in front of the fireplace with a glass of blood in her hand and a cruel smirk on her face. “Why the frown, little sis? Haven’t you missed me?”

“Um, not really,” I admit, scooting to the edge of the bed.

She juts out her lip. “That really hurts, Raven. Seriously, I come all the way out to the Land of Moonlight to visit you and you can’t even say you missed me?”

A few thoughts run through my mind in that instant. 1). Why in the world would Nadine visit me? 2). Does she know about the curse? And 3). Where in the disappearing vampires did Rhyland go?

“If you’re wondering where Rhyland is, you should know I locked him out.” She uncrosses her legs and jumps to her feet. Unlike every other creature at the campsite, Nadine is dressed in bright colors—a baby blue dress, a silver jacket, and matching shoes and jewelry.

“Why would you lock him out?” I take a cautious step back toward the flap of the tent as the air grows thick with uneasiness.

She smiles, yet her eyes flash red like how Gabe’s did right before he attacked me.

Hungry vampires, this isn’t good.

She tucks her hands behind her back. “Because he wouldn’t let me do what I’m about to do.”

I swallow hard, debating if I can outrun her. From past experiences, probably not, but I have to at least try. “And what’re you about to do?”

She wanders toward the fireplace and sticks her hand into her jacket. “Teleport you away. I would’ve done it already, but you’ve got some sort of protection thing on you that wouldn’t let me until you woke up and agreed to go. I’m not even sure why. That’s not a normal thing. Then again, you’ve never been normal.” As my lips part, she cuts me off. “And don’t even try to feed me any shit about refusing to go with me. You’ll only make it harder on yourself.” Her eyes darken. “Because you’re going to go with me so we can put an end to this curse. Not that I’ve always minded it.” She gazes into the flames with a hauntingly wistful smile on her face. “There were times I got great pleasure in watching you suffer.”

“Why are you doing this?” I whisper. “What have I ever done to you?”

“Besides feeding from my king?” She glares at me. “Don’t pretend you’re completely innocent in this. You were just as much to blame as the rest of us.”

“I know I was.” Wait, the rest of us? “Wait. You played a part in this, too?”

She gives me a crooked smile. “I assumed you hadn’t remembered that part yet.” She withdraws her hand from her jacket, and clutched in her fingers are my journals. “I figured as much since there was no mention of me in these.”

“Give me those back.” I lunge at her with my fangs bared.

“Like hell. You weren’t supposed to be remembering anything. You broke a lot of rules keeping these, and when the queen finds out just how much you remember, she’s going to end this much quicker.” She laughs as she dodges out of my way. “You’re so pathetic. Seriously. And you’re nowhere near close to figuring it out. And I guess you never will be.”

I reel around and dive toward her again, but then she tosses the journals into the fireplace.

“No!” I shout as the flames eat away at the paper. “There might’ve been answers in there.”

“Yeah, so? Answers don’t matter anymore.”

I spin around, letting my fangs snap free. I’ve never been much of a fighter, but I’m jacked up on Rhyland’s blood right now and am on the verge of exploding. “Answers don’t matter anymore?” I stalk toward her. “Answers are the only things that are going to help us escape this curse.” I reach for her, ready to grab her.

“Don’t be stupid. There’s no escaping the curse anymore.” She raises her hand and sparks of silver shoot from her fingertips.

I freeze. “What …? How …? You have Wiccan powers? Since when?”

“Since recently.” She shrugs. “She was kind to me this curse.”

“The fey queen is never kind without wanting something in return,” I bite out. “You’re stupid to think otherwise.”

“Oh, I know she wants something, and I’m about to give it to her.” She flicks her wrist and fiery sparks shower across my chest.

I turn to run, but my body won’t move, my feet frozen to the ground. “Let me go!”

She ambles toward me, her hand still sparking with magic. “I will, once I’ve handed you over to the queen.” She stops in front of me and sighs. “She wanted to capture you herself, but unfortunately, you being here has made it impossible for her to step foot in the Land of Moonlight.”

I writhe my body, trying to get free of her magic. “Why?”

“Because you’re an abomination.” She leans forward, her red eyes darkening. “And FYI, when the queen kills you this time, you’re not coming back. This”—she gestures at me—“is the end for you and everyone else who played a part in the curse. Sure, she wanted it to go on for a little longer, but you’re remembering too many things this time around and she can’t figure out why.” Her fangs snap out from her gums. “It’s becoming too risky to keep the curse going.” An almost manic smile takes over her face. “I’m glad I got to be a part of the end. I really am.”

“Nadine, don’t do this,” I beg. “I’m so close to breaking the curse. I just need more time.”

She rolls her eyes. “You’ll never break the curse. That’s what you idiots never realized—the curse was a setup so the queen could gain power. Not so Rhyland could have his happily ever after with the love of his life.” She rolls her eyes. “How I ever thought I wanted that loser is beyond me.”

“You won’t get away with this.” I open my mouth and scream, “Rhyland, Kingsley, help!”

Nadine busts up laughing. “Scream all you want. They’ll never get past the shield I put around the tent. Do you want to know why?” She leans into my face again. “Because I’m more powerful than them. And it’s a great feeling. It really is.”

“Nadine,” I beg. “Please, please don’t do this. I know deep down inside there’s good in you.”

She snorts a laugh. “You’re such a liar.”

“No, I’m not,” I say in desperation. “I know you can be good sometimes. And you’re my sister. You can’t just let me die. And Mom and Dad … They played a part in the curse, too. If you give me to the queen and let her end the curse, they’ll die, too.”

She gives a nonchalant shrug. “I never really liked them, anyway. They were always too”—she wavers—“good for my taste.”

I look at her, and I mean, really look at her, wondering if this is truly her or if the queen has made her evil. Sadly, considering what little I remember about her over the past lives, I’m leaning toward the first.

“Now, quit trying to distract me.” She snags my arm and drags me toward the flap of the tent. “It’s time to go—”

She suddenly goes statue-still and the magic around me fades.

“Hurry up and get her out of there!” Ava shouts, appearing in the doorway of the tent. Her hand is out in front of her, her illuminated gaze zeroed in on Nadine. “She’s strong … I won’t be able to hold her for long.”

Rhyland and Kingsley suddenly squeeze through the doorway, each of them carrying a sword. Rhyland’s eyes are wild with panic, while Kingsley seems as though he’s in pain.

“Are you okay?” Rhyland asks, rushing toward me.

I nod as I sputter, “Nadine, she’s working for the queen.”

The muscles in his jaw spasm. “We need to get you out of here before she shows up.”

“She can’t come here,” I tell him. “At least, Nadine said she can’t. She said, while I’m in the Land of Moonlight, the queen can’t come here. I don’t know why. And Nadine could’ve been lying. She’s always been good at that.”

“No, if she was lying, the queen would be here. Trust me,” Rhyland mutters. “This is good. It means we’re safe for now.”

“No, it doesn’t, because creatures like her can obviously still get to us. And if she does control the rebellion, she has a hell of a lot of powerful creatures willing to throw down their lives for her.”

Kingsley gives a pressing glance in Nadine’s direction then tosses Rhyland a shirt. “We need to get away from here and farther into the towns where more creatures are. It’ll make us less detectable by magic.”

Rhyland sets the sword down to slip the shirt over his head. “The towns are too dangerous, especially for an unguarded vampire king and queen. And we need to find a dragon before her burns end up taking over her body.”

“We will, but we need to hide out for a few days until our scents fade.” Kingsley sheaths his sword. “The towns are our safest bet. There are a ton of creatures there—a ton of scents. Anything trying to track us will have a hard time making ours out. And Raven’s got moonlight blood in her. We can use that to our advantage.”

“I know, but …” Rhyland curses as he yanks his fingers through his hair. “I can’t believe this is happening. And it’s all my fault. All my fucking fault.”

Kingsley shakes his head and gives Rhyland’s shoulder a squeeze. “It’s just as much mine as it is yours.”

“Actually, it might be no one’s fault,” I whisper softly. “Well, except the queen’s.”

They both glance at me, their foreheads creased in puzzlement.

“Did you remember something?” Rhyland asks, his hand falling to his side.

I nod. “And I think it might be something neither of you realize.” Unless they figured it out on their own, they don’t know about the barrette or the euphoric faerie dust that was slipped into the blood Kingsley and I drank that night.

“Can you guys please pick up the conversation later!” Ava shouts, sounding in pain. “I don’t know how much longer I can hold her.”

Nodding, Rhyland offers me his hand. “You can tell us on the way to town.”

I hesitate, but only for an instant. Then I place my hand in his, trusting him for the first time in a long time.

Relief washes over his features as he rushes toward the door, pulling me with him.

Ava has collapsed to her knees, her face strained with pain. “I can only hold her for a couple of minutes. Then I have to let go and transport myself out of here. If I don’t do it, I won’t have any magic left.” She sucks in a breath as light shines from her hands. “Get as far away from here as quickly as you can.”

Kingsley nods. “Thank you for this. The next time we see each other, we owe you a favor.”

She lets out a strained laugh. “You’ll owe me more than that, and I plan on collecting.”

Nodding, Kingsley tosses me a knife. Strangely, I catch it effortlessly without even cutting myself. Not having too much time to think about my sudden awesome catching skills, I tuck the knife into my thigh holster and focus on running out of the tent and across the snowy, iridescent field.

“What about my mom and dad!” I shout to Rhyland over the howling wind. “And the guards!”

Rhyland glances over at Kingsley on the other side of me, the two of them trading a look.

“They’ll be fine,” Rhyland assures me, staring straight ahead as we sprint at an alarming speed.

“No. I’m not doing this lying bullshit with you anymore.” I slam to a stop, my hair whipping in my face. “No more lies!”

Rhyland grinds to a halt, kicking up a cloud of snow as he whirls around toward me. “Raven, we don’t have time for this. We need to go now before Nadine gets free or other creatures show up.”

“Then tell me the truth.” I swing my arm around at the empty land and tents. “Where is everyone?”

His throat muscles work as he swallows hard. “They’re gone.”

“Gone where?” I demand, stepping toward him.

“We don’t know,” Kingsley says, his cheeks glazed over with snowflakes. “When I went to get Ava, I couldn’t find anyone else.”

I hug my arms around myself as snowflakes tumble down on me. My parents are gone? Gone? “Where was Ava when you found her?”

Kingsley stares at the tents behind us. “She was in her tent. Nadine had jumped her and hit her with a sleep spell. Luckily, I could wake her up, but everyone else …” He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “I don’t know what happened to them.”

“So, the guards … my mom and dad …” Tears burn my eyes as the wind touches them, freezing against my skin like little crystal raindrops. “They’re gone?”

“We’ll find them,” Rhyland promises, scraping the frozen tears from my cheeks. His lips are dark red, his face glistening with frozen snowflakes, but his eyes burn the promise into the chilled air. “I swear we will.”

“What if they’re dead?” I whisper hoarsely.

Rhyland cups my cheek and forces me to look at him. “If they were dead, she would’ve left the bodies for you to see. Trust me; the queen fights dirty like that.”

His words give me a drop of hope. I just wish I knew where they went. Maybe I should go look for them.

“I know you’re upset and you want to go look for them,” Rhyland says, as if reading my thoughts, which maybe he did, “but right now, we need to get you someplace safe until we can figure out a way to stop the queen and the curse.”

“I’m not so sure the curse is even working anymore,” Kingsley mutters as he stares at me.

Rhyland’s head whips in his direction. “How do you figure that?”

Kingsley’s gaze flicks from me to him. “Because we’re talking about it.”

“But then, we’re free, right?” Rhyland points out, his grip on his sword loosening.

“No, we’re not.” I’m the one to speak. “Because we didn’t break the curse. She decided to end it by killing all the creatures who played a part in it. At least, that’s what Nadine said.”

Rhyland’s gaze blazes fiercely against the darkness settling over the luminous sky. “Well, that’s not going to happen. We’re going to run this time and fight against her, and not let her turn us against each other.” He sticks out his hand. “In fact, we should all take an oath to promise to trust each other, no matter what.”

Kingsley sighs, but puts his hand on top of Rhyland’s. “I promise to trust you two, no matter what—no matter how much you get on my nerves.” The corners of his lips quirk.

Rhyland rolls his eyes. “And I promise to do the same, no matter what happens or what I think I see.”

I wonder if he’s referring to seeing Kingsley and I kissing and biting each other in the bed that night before the curse happened.

Their gazes shift to me, and then they patiently wait in silence for me to make my decision, even though we don’t really have the extra time to spare.

Can I trust them? Will my mind let me get past everything I saw and thought I’ve seen over the centuries I’ve been alive?

“Fine.” I put my hand on theirs. “I promise to trust you two, no matter what happens. No matter how bleak things look.”

Smiling, Kingsley pulls away and claps his hands. “Good. Now let’s get the hell out of here before the evil bitch comes looking for us.”

Nodding, we sprint off toward the Land of Moonlight with nothing more than our trust for each other and the hope that we can put the puzzle together. I just hope we can outwit the queen this time around. And that everyone—my parents, Rhyland and Kingsley’s parents, even Ava—makes it out of this alive.