“What a piece of work,” Holly snickered.

I was beyond angry, I was pissed. Turning towards my council leader, I flung my hand out and cast a stream of magic at her. Holly, caught off guard, shot into the air and landed with a hard thump. “I said, Shut. The. Fuck. Up!”

“She may be daft sometimes, but she’s got spunk,” Ian said with a laugh.

I tried to throw him on his ass, but he anticipated the move and blocked the orb I cast towards him. The next thing I knew, all hell broke loose.

Holly regained her footing, the ire in her eyes directed at me. I strengthened my spirit walker powers during my time in Moon, but my witchy ones weren’t even a portion of Holly’s. Circling her hands around each other, her magic grew into a large orb. Flinging her hands outwards, the orb sailed across the distance and slammed into my chest like a freight train. I was propelled through the air, my body doing 360s from the impact. When I hit the ground, I was sure I was dead. Every bone in my body felt broken. Blood seeped over my eye, causing a red haze to tint my view. I tried to push my arms against the ground to stand, but they didn’t want to move.

I lay on the ground sure that Holly’s next strike would end my life. Twigs snapped as footsteps sounded behind me. Cold fingers pressed against my jugular.

“She’s alive, you’re lucky,” Ian growled.

A fight erupted as Holly and Ian attacked each other. A fleeting thought about what a strange couple they were fluttered through my mind when I heard Dorian’s voice. My face was pressed against the ground and my body refused to move, I couldn’t search for where he hid.

“Gwen, you have the power to defeat them,” he said.

“Help me,” I croaked. I hated how weak I sounded and even more so that I was asking to be saved.

Holly screamed from something Ian did, and the surrounding area lit up like the fourth of July as she attacked him with her power. Out of my peripheral vision I could make out their shapes against the bright light, but I couldn’t tell who was winning. If Holly won, she’d finish me off next. If Ian won, I’d die when he tried to change me. I still didn’t understand why he thought I could accept the vampire virus, but I tried not to understand crazy people as a rule.

“Concentrate,” Dorian said. His voice sounded hollow like it emanated out of thin air. My head was cluttered with a horde of dizzy butterflies and my vision went in and out of focus as I tried to fight the darkness.

“Dorian?” I whispered right before the icy fingertips of death took me.

20

I’ve heard people say your entire life flashes before your eyes when you die. The images that flashed through my subconscious were some of the happiest times of my life. Like slides in a projector, I revisited those times that meant the most. The first memory was when I was five years old. The sun was high in the sky and the grass was thick and green. Buttery beams cascaded my backyard in warmth. My father was on all fours, pretending to be a bear as he chased me. My pigtails bobbed up and down as I squealed and ran from him. With his large arms, he swooped me up and tickled my belly. I was safe in his embrace—loved.

The memory faded and another replaced it. My sister, Rebekah, and I were snuggled in my bed as my mother sat on the edge reading us fairy tales. Our eyes were wide as we absorbed the story, and my mother’s voice was full of emotion as she spoke of the evil witch who bewitched Snow White and the loving prince who could awaken her with just a kiss. When she finished the tale, a smile spread across her lips. I remember thinking how beautiful she was and hoped that I would be just as beautiful one day.

The memory shifted to the day I arrived in Moon, feeling lost and alone. A blond girl named Fiona popped out of the woods and befriended me. She accepted me just when my world had thrown me away. Various images of our time together flitted through my mind: the day we accidently set fire to the castle’s drapes in the ballroom, the year Fiona worked a love spell that backfired and made her love everyone she met, and all of the times she filled my heart with laughter.

I wasn’t tormented with regret or heartache. I didn’t weep for the things I never got to do or remember those who’d wronged me. In the end, it was happiness and love that occupied my mind.

Awareness washed over me. Death’s frigid grasp still clung to me, and I wondered which reaper would claim my soul. My eyelids fluttered as I tried to regain consciousness. I could feel the grittiness of the dirt embedded against my skin and hear snarls and grunts somewhere in the distance. Confusion overwhelmed my mind as I tried to make sense of it all.

“Get up, Gwen,” the familiar voice demanded.

My eyelids felt heavy as I tried to pry them open. I managed to see my surroundings through slits. I was still in the forest, maybe I’d never left. The wind whipped against my face but my body felt numb, oblivious to the cold elements.

“Embrace death, Gwen,” the angry, masculine voice ordered. Concentrating on the voice, my memory weaved itself back together. I knew that voice; I heard it for the past three weeks and even argued with it on more than one occasion.

“Dorian?” I wasn’t sure if I said his name or thought it.

“Get your ass up and fight,” Dorian responded with urgency.

His words floated through my mind, and I worked to make sense of them. “I think I’m dying,” I murmured.

“You’re not dying, I won’t allow it. Use what I taught you and get up!” Dorian’s voice grew angrier, the frigid grasp tightening.

Without questioning his command, I tried to push myself up, arms quivering under the pressure before they collapse back down. “I can’t.”

But I had to move. If I stayed crumpled on the ground Holly would send another supercharged orb to finish me off. My mind was mending, but my body refused to follow suit. How in the hell did Dorian expect me to get up? Whatever kind of magic Holly shot me with rendered me helpless. Panic seeped in along the edges of my awareness and overtook the tranquility of the visions.

“How many times do I have to tell you to embrace death, woman? Use your powers to your advantage and get up already. You know what to do, find the calm and concentrate.”

Find the calm and concentrate. I grabbed onto those words and replayed them as I slowed my breathing and eased my frantic heartbeat. Dorian taught me how to sense death on people, and I was surrounded by three individuals who had blood on their hands. I could almost smell it, like rotten fruit and flesh mixed together—pungent and rancid.

Strangely, the smell didn’t make me sick. Instead, it drew me in and captured my inner spirit walker; it called to it like a long lost friend. My body became a peaceful abyss as I clung to the death and used it as a life preserver. No longer did I feel weighted down by broken bones and bruises. I was weightless and free of my prison. Sitting up, I pressed my hands against the ground and stood.

“That’s it,” Dorian encouraged me.

The fuzziness was replaced with clarity. Holly and Ian lunged at each other ten feet away. Trails of blood streaked Holly’s face and red blotches stained Ian’s shirt. Holly’s hand glowed with magic even in this washed out world of gray. Looking over my shoulder, I saw my wrecked body still curled on the ground.

Whatda know, Kye’s lesson about astral projecting actually came in handy.

My eyes wandered over the clearing and stopped when they found Aiden. He was still bound to the tree, his gaze glued to my still body. Looking at him hurt my heart. I hated the way his black hair hung loosely over his piercing blue eyes and the way his lips reminded me of how his kisses taste. I hated the way his entire body caused wild fires in my mind as the times we’d spent between the sheets came back to me. I hated that he had the nerve to look worried as he watched my lifeless body. But most of all, I hated that I didn’t hate him for what he’d done. Maybe Holly and Ian were right, I was a stupid bitch.

“Gwen, focus,” Dorian chided from somewhere behind me. Ignoring Aiden, I searched for Dorian. Standing under a large Maple tree, Dorian watched me with pride and amusement. Nodding his head in Holly and Ian’s direction, he said, “Show them just how badass spirit walkers are.”

I smiled and turned my attention towards the fighting couple. Something had changed in me, perhaps it was the acceptance of what I was, but I didn’t feel the least bit intimidated or scared to use my powers. With confident steps I approached Holly and Ian. My anger boiled to the surface as they assaulted each other. Both were bad, and both deserved to die—and I was the only one who could do it.

I didn’t love the thought of killing anyone, but I would do what I had to do to protect my people and myself. A smile spread across my lips as I thought about how easier my life would be without them in it. Holly would no longer control me, and I wouldn’t have to deal with Ian’s ridiculous plan. Maybe in this instance it wouldn’t be so bad.

I only had one shot and screwing up wasn’t an option. Killing them was going to be tricky. While she couldn’t see me, I was absolutely sure she’d be able to sense me once she wasn’t occupied with Ian. Ian could vanish into the night at any sign something wasn’t going according to his plans. All either of them would have to do is kill my vulnerable body, and I was a goner. “I could use some help,” I said over my shoulder.

“You have to do it on your own,” Dorian advised.

“Why?” My brow furrowed as I tried to see his logic.

“This is your chance to become one with the side of yourself you’ve been repressing,” Dorian said as he appeared by my side. “Think of it as our final lesson.”

“If I would’ve known it would come down to life and death, I would’ve paid more attention.” My voice trembled, but I swallowed over the nervousness that crawled up my throat.

“Every day is a battle between life and death. The sooner you learn that, the better chance you have of surviving. Now quit stalling, and clean up the trash.”

It was just like Dorian to spout something profound right before I was about to kill two people. “Here goes,” I said.