I shouldn’t be watching this.

Knowing the story is enough. I don’t need a visual.

“Four gypsy families torn apart.”

It takes a few seconds longer, and I’m forced to watch as Arion turns, five knives strapped on his fingers, and finds an array of targets. With a dark grin, he begins slicing through necks almost effortlessly, moving fast and efficiently, never hesitating.

A chill rides up my spine, but the scene fortunately changes, just as he nears me.

Before the image can blur too much, I watch his attention turn toward my direction, and either by accident or coincidence, our gazes meet and hold.

His pupils dilate, and I’m half certain he sees me. In the next instant, I’m more convinced someone behind me was about to die or something, because that’s impossible.

Arion’s mind isn’t in here. It had to be something else.

I land in a bank of memories that once again break my heart, when I see the men who were so closely bonded suddenly battling with everything in them against each other over fields of corpses.

A whole lot of mass graves lie in their past.

It seems to take up the majority of the song.

“Three gypsy families turned cold of heart.”

The scene shifts to an icy room full of hiding Simpletons, four Portocales, and a lot of fangs-bared vampires.

History explained down to the gist.

“Two gypsy families couldn’t back down.”

In the next instant, I see a man I don’t recognize, which means he must be a Portocale, since he’s going head-to-head with Idun. There’s only one type of alpha who doesn’t get to keep the same face upon reincarnation.

I stumble back when Idun’s monster suddenly emerges, her body distorting into some mutant-looking humanoid creature. Nails extend, her dress rips, and her entire body turns leaner and more defined as it grows.

It’s so abrupt and unexpected that I don’t even know how to react to the sight of it.

Her eye-sockets stretch wider than her eyes, which leaves them only tethered by the nerves there. Her eyelids disappear, as the black sockets glisten, almost creating a hollow shadow. Her mouth stretches wider, and a lot of sharp teeth start protruding.

Her next step is taken with a hideously monstrous foot, which has claws on it as well.

Jurassic Park floats through my mind. She reminds me of a demonic, humanoid attempt at a raptor, only with longer arms, standing more upright, and no tail.

Oh, and a lot more claws.

Possibly bigger teeth.

So…she looks nothing like a raptor, but my head is in a frenzy, because she is definitely intimidating. And gives off the terrifying alien vibe.

It’s not like the other monsters I’ve seen. She’s not a pretty monster at all.

The man staggers, eyes wide as though he’s seeing it for the first time as well. Her monster grins, showing off more of those terrifying teeth, as a growl bubbles in her chest.

In the next instant, she moves so fast I miss the motion. One second she’s standing in front of me, and the next, she’s standing behind the man.

Like a horror movie, I watch in stunned silence as his head slowly slides off his neck and thuds to the floor, bouncing and rolling, eyes frozen open in the same shock.

My breaths come out shaky, as Idun smoothly morphs back into her delicate, feminine body. She’s naked as she moves through the room, licking blood off her fingertips, as she smugly smiles down at the man.

I bet that’s Edmond.

Awful as he seems to be, he did love Caroline. Watching her suffer all those years had to provoke the prideful man in him at some point.

This may have been that point.

Idun’s too fast and too strong for even an alpha.

“One gypsy family went underground.”

As the world changes, my heart skips a beat, because I watch as three out of four of my monsters battle against Idun.

With one arm missing, Idun’s monster rages, but Vance is quick enough to avoid a deadly strike. Barely.

I watch with dread in my stomach, as Damien does something, clearly wielding an illusion I can’t see, since Idun struggles to find them in the next instant.

He shouts something. If I had to guess, he’s telling them to hurry the hell up.

Damien drops to a knee, concentration and strain etching his features, as he struggles to hold the illusion.

I know the outcome, and I’m still desperately hanging onto the metaphorical edge of my seat in angsty suspense.

Fear.

She feasts on fear, and the Simpletons are empathic. All that fear that was rolling off them in droves was constantly feeding her, and still is. They have powerful alpha blood, which only generates a nuclear battery for her.

That’s what they meant when they said her House made her too strong.

I just separated them, but they still tremble in fear at the mention of her name.

Until this moment, I didn’t realize how much that changed. I assumed it was all tied to bloodlines, since that’s of so much importance. I assumed it may also have to do with the cosmic laws they’ve written and abided by.

I never considered the fact it had to do with the Simpletons themselves, and all the fear they constantly feed her. She just needs close. She doesn’t have to be in the same room, or even in the same town.

Forcing myself away from the distraction, I take in the scene as a whole once more.

“So you feed off the fear you create, and it’s strongest when they fear you. That’s how you got so powerful. You need the Simpletons to fear you. But how did you rise, Idun? I didn’t fear you. You creep me out and give me hesitance, and occasionally a small bit of apprehension, but only since you surfaced. The only thing I truly feared was loving them and losing them to you,” I murmur to myself, tapping my chin. “If their fear is your source of power, how did I help raise you? I didn’t even know to fear you when I first came to town.”

That video was time-stamped. I didn’t know Idun existed that day. There has to be more I’m missing.

I cut my gaze away, unable to watch the rest, since she’s getting in more punches than I expected. The guys are cut to death and ragged, barely able to shove her back even an inch.

This looks to have taken the last bit of everything they had in them, during that time.

“You were broken, just like everyone else in the world, and instead of piecing yourself together, you got angry. You got vengeful. And you got really fucking cold, even if you are a hot head,” I continue, narrowing my eyes. “But how did you rise if fear is the connection to your power? Putting them underground, safely entombed, and ensured you would stay under as long as they did…all that should have watered down their fear. You shouldn’t have been strong enough to break through those barriers, especially severed in several pieces. Not even you’re that strong.”

My gaze drifts to where I spot Arion, lurking in the shadows, staring on with a blank expression on his face. He pockets a necklace and turns to walk away, never looking back.

“Forever is such a long time to bleed,” I sing, feeling the wind stir as the image changes.

I’m suddenly in Damien’s home, watching as mirrors reflect him moving toward me. His eyes are dull, flat, and completely devoid of any emotion at all, as he staggers, wasted on someone’s gypsy spice.

The scent isn’t mine or my mother’s, so he used to have another supplier.