“Holly has requested you and Fiona stay in the castle for the remainder of your trip,” Kye said. Fiona squealed with excitement, it wasn’t every day we got offered a room in a beautiful castle—let alone the NAWC’s castle. In human terms, it was the equivalent of being asked to stay in the White House or Buckingham Castle. It was supposed to be a compliment, but I couldn’t muster up any appreciation.

“No, thank you. I’m perfectly happy sleeping at the Inn,” I didn’t want to be close to Holly if I didn’t have to.

“When Holly requests something, it’s more of a nice way of giving orders,” Kye smirked. “Your bags are being brought over as we speak. You’ll be on the second floor, room 75, Gwen, and Ms. Bennett, you’ll be in 76.” Kye turned and walked out of the library.

Fiona gave me a sad smile. “Oh, come on, how bad could it be?” she asked.

I arched an eyebrow and pursed my lips, sure that she had just jinxed us. Annoyance at the entire situation snaked its way through my body.

Fiona’s cell phone echoed throughout the stone room. She answered it, her smile growing wider as she talked. When she flipped her phone shut, she tucked it into her pocket and bit her lip looking at me.

“What?”

“That was Ethan. He wants me to meet him, is that okay? Or do you want to discuss Aiden more?” She paused. “By the way, I know you’re not stupid and I’m sorry it sounded that way. I just want you to be careful, things have changed.”

I shook my head. “Nope, I’m done. You said what you needed to say and so did I.”

“We’ll talk later, I promise,” she called over her shoulder as she rushed out of the library. I laughed and shook my head. I was in a crappy mood and our fight hadn’t helped but I could still be happy for my best friend. She met Ethan the first day we arrived in Moon. He had reduced her to a drooling fool with just a wink of his sparkling green eye.

Deciding not to drown in my self-pity, I went to the room Kye said was mine. At least it wasn’t on the sixth floor where the council member’s rooms were. The castle was big enough I could easily avoid Holly— at least I hoped I could.

I pushed the door to my room open. The bedroom was bigger than my apartment. A four poster bed sat on an upraised platform in the center of the room. Four large, arched windows dressed with red velvet drapes lined the back wall and looked over the hedge maze. My bags were sitting next to my bed, and Aura was peacefully sleeping on a chaise lounge. “Traitor,” I said to my black cat. She flicked her tail but didn’t waste the energy of opening an eye.

My cell phone buzzed. I flipped my phone open and saw that I had a text from Aiden.

Busy? The message said.

Nope, I texted back. Four days without Aiden had affected me more than I expected. We’d known each other two years but dated for a few weeks. However, in that short time, I grew used to having him around. We spent every night together, and now it was hard to go through the night without seeing him.

Meet me in the maze, he texted back.

I rushed to the window and tried to spot Aiden but the lighting wasn’t bright enough to make out anything. Be right there, I typed as fast as my thumbs would allow and ran out of my room. I was even more anxious for Aiden’s safety than seeing him, which said a lot. If the council found out he was here, he’d be a pile of ash before he knew what happened.

I hurried around the back of the castle and sprinted towards the maze. Tall lampposts lined the entrance, but once inside the maze it was completely dark. I ran my fingers along the leafy walls as I navigated my way into the labyrinth.

“Aiden?” I called out in a whisper. He’d be able to hear me, but I worried someone else might hear me too. I took a right turn then a left, which led me to a dead end. A soft chuckle danced on the wind and teased my ears. I whipped around and strained my eyes to find where Aiden was hiding.

“This isn’t funny,” I hissed. Aiden was always up for games when the situation called for him to be serious.

I walked down the next row of shrubbery and turned left. Arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me against the hardness of a chest. Aiden leaned down brushing his lips against my ear, “How lovely to see you, my Gwen.”

I leaned into his chest and absorbed his energy that swirled around me like a playful tornado. He turned me to face him and leaned in pressing his lips to mine. My entire body relaxed as I enjoyed the sensual dance of our tongues. When the kiss ended, I rested my forehead against his chest and breathed in the scent of him.

“Something wrong?” he asked. Looking up at him, I admired how the moon highlighted his features. Dark black locks framed his handsome face, and his blue eyes broke through the darkness and met mine lovingly.

“You could say that.” Reaching a hand up, I ran my fingers through his hair. “What were you thinking coming here? Do you know the council just announced we’re going to war with the vampires? They’ll kill you if they find you here,” my voice was thick with panic. Aiden brushed a stray strand of hair out of my eyes and placed both of his palms on either side of my face.

“They’d have to catch me first,” he grinned, and I rolled my eyes. He feathered a kiss against my forehead, “I’m very fast.” Not even a price on his head would cause him to be serious.

“That’s all you have to say about us going to war?” I spoke louder than I intended. I bit my lip and tilted my head to make sure no one heard us—the last thing we needed was a mob of angry witches with torches and pitchforks. I wished I could have been as calm as Aiden appeared, but no matter how hard I tried, fear consumed me.

“I’m all for the vampires responsible for killing witches being brought to justice. I thought you would be too?” Aiden cocked his head.

I closed my eyes and shook my head, realizing why he seemed so calm. “When I said the council wants to go to war with the vampires, I meant all vampires, Aiden. They don’t care whether they’ve drank our blood or not, and Holly is using me in her fight against them.”

The realization set Aiden’s blue eyes on fire. His hands gripped me tighter and his pupils dilated so hardly any of the whites in his eyes showed. “It’ll be a bloodbath,” Aiden mumbled, lost in thought.

“The vampire council hasn’t reacted to any of the NAWC’s warnings and more and more witches are being murdered. I understand why they want retribution, but I think Holly is taking it too far,” I hated that this whole thing escalated to a war. The wind played with Aiden’s dark hair and an intense emotion overcame me. My stomach knotted and churned with nauseous waves. Heat rushed to my face as a cold sweat broke along my brow. I didn’t understand what it meant, but it wasn’t good.

“Leave with me tonight,” Aiden’s eyes burned into mine.

I shook my head, words failing to form.

“Gwen, if what you say is true and the council is using you as a frontrunner in their war, you need to leave with me, tonight. I won’t let you become collateral damage while they start an endless war,” Aiden paused and squeezed me tighter into his chest. He rested his head atop mine, “I won’t lose you.” His voice was a mere whisper, but the intensity he coated those soft words with sent chills along my spine.

His offer was tempting. I didn’t want anything to do with the fight, but the council already involved me. Running wouldn’t change the fact that they planned to kill innocent vampires and start something far bigger than they probably realized. Once news got around that vampires were being murdered, all Hell would break loose. Witches were powerful and not to be trifled with, but vampires were killing machines—especially those hopped up on brew. The playing field wasn’t exactly even. We would be fighting against creatures that could move faster than the wind and heal whatever wounds we inflicted, not to mention they’d have our magic on their side as well.

I ran all of the excuses, as to why I couldn’t go, through my head and was almost to the point of believing them. The real reason why I couldn’t run away with Aiden, as much as I’d like to, was the threat of being shunned from the magical community. I had already been kicked out of my home when I was sixteen for becoming a witch—something I had no control over. If I chose to run away with Aiden, I’d be rejected by the NAWC for something else I had no control over—love.

Maybe I can save him. Maybe I can convince him to return to Italy and wait out the war. He’d be safe. “I’m sorry, Aiden, I can’t,” I said with false confidence.

Aiden was from Italy and still owned a home there. My fate was sealed; I’d fight in the war, but Aiden didn’t have to. A tiny amount of weight lifted from my shoulders with the hope that my plan could work. The nausea in my stomach eased and I began to feel better the longer I thought about him leaving.

“What do you mean, you can’t?” Aiden asked accusingly, like I was supporting what the council was doing.

“I want you to go to Italy,” I told him, ignoring his question. He walked a few paces away before turning around and staring at me. Worry and anger were evident on his beautiful face, and it pained me that I was the cause of it. I walked towards him and put my hands on his chest. Looking up I said, “Please, go.”

He shook his head, a slow and measured movement. His hand cupped my face and glided down to settle on my shoulder. His body was unyielding beneath my hands. “I cannot and will not leave you, my Gwen. If danger is ahead of us, I’ll be beside you until the end.”

My breath caught, and I tried to swallow around the lump in my throat. The hope was squashed and replaced with fear. I could handle putting myself in danger, but I couldn’t accept Aiden’s life being threatened. He lived over six hundred years, and it could all end because of me.

“Please,” I begged. “They know you drank witches blood, you’re a target.” I was hoping this news would send a jolt of awareness into him, but his only reaction was a slight twitch to his lips. My eyes blurred with tears as I realized he was steadfast with his decision to stay. He folded me into his arms while I held back the tears that threatened to fall.