“I should go and get changed. Alex?” I ask her, and she walks over, linking her arm in mine as we walk away from them all, feeling them watching me. My back almost tingles with the knowledge that all my mates are watching me, and I turn my head to see them. They look every bit as powerful as I know they are, as they watch me. But, there’s more than that, I feel nothing but love as I meet each of their eyes and give them a little smile. I haven’t even seen what my new mark looks like since I mated with Atti, and all I want is to see it. We walk up the stairs and instead of walking to my corridor, I walk down the opposite one.

“Where are we going?” Alex asks me.

“To see the crystal, I need to know something,” I tell her, and she nods.

“Why didn’t you tell your mates?”

“I need to speak with it alone. They won’t let me touch it after last time, and I can’t really explain this feeling I have. I think the crystal is somehow in my dreams, the child-like voice I always hear; I think it is the crystal,” I tell her as we stop and open the doors to the tower. I’m surprised no one is guarding it like they should be, but I make a mental note to sort something out later. I shut the doors behind us and stop on the bottom step of the stairs.

“Can I be alone?” I ask her, and she looks behind me up the stairs and meets my eyes.

“I trust you,” she says simply, and I know there isn’t much more that is needed to be said. I climb up the dozens of stairs of the tower and feel the crystal calling to me before I even see it. The crystal is as huge as I remember it being, it lightly glows, and I look around the room to see someone has drawn on the walls and there are tools on the floor. It looks like they planned to put windows in here and the very thought makes me happy. People should be able to see the beautiful light from the crystal. I walk over, whispering quietly,

“Hello. I know this may seem weird. Okay, it is weird that I’m talking to a giant crystal, but I know you’re alive in here. I feel it. You sing to me, just like the crystal trees in the witches’ city. You have been in my dreams and helping me, is that true?”

I place my hands on the crystal, seeing the millions of little lights inside swirl around and then rush at the place my hands are, before the light shines so brightly that I can’t see anything for a second.

“Winter,” the child-like voice says as I open my eyes, and the little lights from the crystal have formed into a ball in the middle, I look only for a second before the loud, sorrow-filled song fills my mind.

“Child of Winter . . . .

Child of demons . . . .

Child of the ancient ones. A child planned to rule, a child planned to save. For all children grow to love, to mourn, but only the child of death will pay the ultimate price. A price for love, for the world. Death and sorrow, death and love, death and wishes for change will never be sought. The prophecy tells the truth, as much as time will pass. Blood will fall, blood will fall, blood will fall . . . .”

The song drifts off as my hands start to burn on the crystal, but I don’t move my hands away.

“I understand, I know it’s my life that must be given to save everyone,” I whisper and only a small whisper responds to me,

“You will understand at the final choice.”

I pull my hands away, the ball of light breaking into millions of little lights inside the crystal, and the power I felt in the room seems to have disappeared. I look down at my slightly burnt hands as they heal and then back to the crystal, feeling like I’m missing something. Like it knows something that I don’t.

* * *

I shut the door to my room after leaving with Alex, and she hasn’t said a word, the confused look on my face likely says it all. I instantly start pulling the dress off, and when it falls to the ground, I look at my back in the mirror. Despite my underwear being in the way a little, it’s one hell of a massive mark all down my back. The strong phoenix at the bottom, the brave wolf next, then Atti’s beautiful tree is in the middle of the delicate wings. My heart hurts when I think of the trees in the witches’ city, how they are lost to us for the time being. I hope when we get the city back, and we will, we can re-grow them. Their beautiful songs play through my head a million times as I just stare at my reflection. So much has been lost, and so much more is going to be lost. How can I be strong enough to save everyone? To do what I need to?

“Here,” Alex says, coming over and handing me some jeans and a black top, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Your mating marks are beautiful,” she tells me as I pull the clothes on.

“Thank you. They are.” I reply as I pick the awful dress up and walk over to the fireplace. I chuck it in and look around until I find some matches, before setting the damn thing on fire.

“It looks better on fire.” Alex chuckles as she stands next to me, and we watch the fire burn the black material. Even the awful smell from the burning fabric doesn’t make me move. I want to watch it burn.

“What did the crystal say?”

“Nothing I didn’t already know, I think it’s alive,” I reply.

“That’s . . . well, I would say crazy, but we live in a crazy world.”

“A crazy, dangerous world,” I reply, and she nods at me before sitting on the end of my bed and looking down at the ground. Alex never makes much sound as she cries, I know her too well. Alex never cries, it’s just not her way, but the rare times I’ve seen her cry, it’s been for a bad reason, and worry fills me. Nothing else can be wrong, not with my best friend, too.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, keeping the fear out my voice as I walk over and sit next to her.

“I know it’s the worst timing, the worst thing that could have happened right now, and I swear we were being safe, but it happened,” she whispers after a long silence. Confusion fills me as I look at her, I have no idea where she is going with this.

“What happened? Whatever it is, I’ll cover for you. If it’s hiding a body or helping you kill someone, I will, no questions asked,” I say, making her laugh a little as she shakes her head at me. I watch her closely as I take her hand. She shocks me to my core as she places her other hand on her stomach, and I figure out what is going on before she even says it.

“I’m pregnant,” she whispers, and I sit back in shock, keeping hold of her hand. Alex is pregnant.

“Oh, wow. I didn’t expect that,” I mutter, my eyes going from her face to her stomach and back again.

“I know, but it happened, and I couldn’t be more scared. Every time I close my eyes, fear just fills me. I can’t shake the powerless feeling I have,” she admits.

“Why are you scared? You will make a wonderful mother,” I ask her, knowing for certain she will.

“We are at war Winter. We could die, and anything that happens to me, happens to my baby. I love her or him already, I know it’s early to feel this way, but I do. I would do anything to save my baby.”

“No, we won’t die. You will not die, and you will have this baby. He will not win this time. I will fight for our freedom, our lives. The lives of our future,” I say and nod my head towards her stomach. Any doubt I had about winning this war, about giving my life up slips away as I think about Alex’s baby.

“I want to be at your side, fighting, but Drake won’t have it, and I can’t help but agree with him. Vampire pregnancies are so rare, and everyone I’ve asked says they are difficult to carry for half-turned like me,” she says, and it’s not surprising. I know about the low birth rate all supernaturals have.

“Someone will need to be with the women and children who can’t fight. Someone needs to be helping the injured and that’s where you’re going to be,” I say, and she hugs me. Neither of us move for a long time, just holding each other and my mind running over the idea of Alex and a baby.

“I can’t wait to meet her or him,” I whisper to her in the quiet room, only the sound of the fire crackling in the background to listen to.

“Winter, come now,” Leigha bursts into the room, blood pouring down the side of her head. Her clothes are ripped in various places, and when I see the blue dust on her, panic fills me.

“Leigha what happened?” I ask, standing up.

At the same time Alex asks, “Where’s Drake? Where’s our mum?”

“We’d just got to your mum, and demons came. There were so many, we barely got away. I think they were waiting for us, for anyone to come. Drake and your mum are badly injured,” Leigha tells us as we run down the corridor and down the stairs. Alex makes a strangled sound, and everything goes blurry as I run after Leigha.

“No, no, no,” Alex mutters, wiping her eyes as we follow Leigha through the castle and run past many people, who stop and stare. Leigha slams the door of a room open, it’s full of beds, and I see Dabriel first as he is glowing.

“Winter,” I hear someone say, but everything seems slow as I walk over to Dabriel and see my mum on the bed in front of him. There are three long cuts in the front of her top, and there is blood everywhere as Dabriel tries to heal her. I look over at the two silver swords at the side of the bed, covered in blood and back to my mum.

“Mum?” I ask, taking her hand, but she is unconscious. I look over to see another light angel I don’t know glowing lighter than Dabriel and watch as he pulls two daggers out of Drake’s stomach as Alex leans over him. Next to him is a female light witch, three daggers in her arm, and she winces as she pulls them out.

“Winter, I can’t. I’m sorry, but the cuts are laced with the same poison that killed Atti’s mother, and your mother is too human to survive this,” Dabriel says quietly, his purple eyes locking on mine as he gives me the news I knew from the moment I saw my mum. I can’t lose her, too. This cannot be happening. I’m so stupid, I should have demanded she come here, no matter what she wanted.

“No!” I shout, pushing him out of the way as he removes his hands, and my mum looks up at me as her eyes slowly open. I push her grey hair out of her face, wincing when I leave a trail of blood on her cheek from my hands.

“Alex, come and say goodbye,” I hear Dabriel say, and the sound of Alex’s crying fills the room.

“Go say goodbye to your mother. I’m okay, Alex,” I hear Drake say, and then I hear her move closer as I stare into my mum’s eyes. I don’t look away.

“I love you both, you know that?” she whispers out, her breaths sounding slower and slower as I brush some hair out of her eyes.

“I love you, too, mum, please don’t leave me,” Alex begs as she grips her hand.

“Sing for me Winter, I love your singing,” she mumbles and I nod, wiping my eyes. I don’t know what to sing as I open my mouth, and then a song fills my mind. A song she used to sing to me as a child.

“Blue, blue rose dancing in the snow. Oh blue, blue rose you have come to say Winter has finally come. Winter brings the cold but the warmth along, too. I can hear the snow falling, I can hear the foxes sleeping, and I can hear the sun setting as Winter comes . . . as the snow falls, and all is clear . . . .”

“Winter, save us. Save us all, and I’m so proud of you both,” she says as I stop singing. Blood flows out of her mouth, before her hand drops out of mine, and her eyes close. I can’t say a word as I watch her die, every part of me feeling as cold and distant as the very song she used to sing to me.

“Mum, mum don’t,” Alex whines. Everything seems surreal as I feel Dabriel pull me into his arms and whispers what I’m sure are comforting things. All I can hear is Alex’s cries and the echo of my mum’s last words: Save us all.