Crimson Truth (Onyx Assassins 4)

If Luna was truly here, at least she’d get to say goodbye. Agony ripped through my chest at the sobering realization that there was truly nothing I could do for my mate. We would both be dead soon.

“That’s a question I fully intend to ask her.” Alek strode to the door. “Lachlan. Valor. Sit with Jocelyn. Benedict?”

The highlander and his mate walked into the room, their expressions grim.

Leaving Jocelyn for any amount of time felt like a betrayal, but she would want to see her sister one last time.

“Okay,” I conceded, nodding at my king.

We wended, slicing through the night air, folding space, and appeared on the road to the manor, just inside the barrier that supposedly protected us from this exact thing from happening.

Luna stood next to a white MINI Cooper, wringing her hands.

She had Jocelyn’s delicate bone structure, and the same strength shone out of her eyes, but that’s where the similarities ended. Luna’s hair was pale, but not quite as white as her mother’s had been, and she lacked the shades of purple that defined Jocelyn’s features.

“She’s alone,” Ransom said, standing at the barrier with his arms folded.

“As the new queen of the witches, alone is something she should never be,” I muttered.

“Agreed.” Alek and I walked through the barrier simultaneously.

“Oh, thank Goddess.” Luna heaved a sigh of relief. “She’s here, isn’t she?”

“How did you find us?” Alek asked.

“Why the hell don’t you have security?” I followed up. Jocelyn would be furious if she knew her sister was being so careless with her safety. She won’t have either of us to look after her once the sun rises.

Luna’s gaze flickered between us, settling on me, first. Odd, because Alek usually commanded the room, but Luna and I were...family. “Because I assumed you wouldn’t want any other witches to know where the vampire royal residence is.” Then she shifted her focus to Alek. “There is a great source of power emanating from behind whatever magical wall you’ve managed to construct here. Jocelyn’s power was substantial, overwhelming, even, but the power pulsing back there shines brighter than even my mother’s, and since her body was found earlier on the battlefield, that leaves me with only one assumption to make.” She brought her gaze back to mine, accusation in their bright depths. “That my sister is somehow alive and managed to absorb my mother’s powers before her death, and given that there were two puncture wounds on my mother’s neck, I have a good idea of how she did it.” She tilted her head at me.

“She wanted to tell you,” I said softly, parts of me splintering off into nothingness as the bond between Jocelyn and I gave way thread by thread. “But she needed the element of surprise in order to take down your mother. She was the one conspiring with the Sons to overthrow Conclave.”

Luna sucked in a deep breath as she absorbed the information, and then her chin lifted, so much like Jocelyn’s that I nearly smiled. “She’s alive.”

“For the moment.” I flinched. “I don’t think I’ll be able to say the same in a few hours. Not with how her temperature is skyrocketing. It’s like she’s burning from the inside out.”

“The power is incinerating her,” Luna mused, staring into the forest as if she were trying to think of a solution.

“Would you like to say goodbye?” I asked her quietly.

Alek’s weight shifted next to me, but he didn’t oppose my offer, which was more than unheard of. Jocelyn had been the first witch allowed on property, and she’d only been the heir—Luna was the queen.

“No,” Luna answered, earning a raised eyebrow from both of us. “I’d like to save her.”

“She’s on fire,” Luna muttered, holding the back of her hand to Jocelyn’s forehead as she sat on the bed next to her.

“I told you the fever is catastrophic.” I stood on Jocelyn’s other side, gently trailing my fingers down her flushed face. How much longer did we have before she burned herself out?

“She can’t contain the power. It’s too much. It’s burning her alive.” She ran her hands down Jocelyn’s body, keeping them a few inches above her skin. “I think I can save her, but I’d have to siphon off the power.” She flinched. “Essentially, I’d be stealing it.”

My heart leapt with hope. “Trust me, she doesn’t want it. She doesn’t want the throne, the crown, or anything. She’s always said you would be the better choice for queen.”

“You’re sure?” Luna asked, her brow furrowed.

“Do whatever you have to do to save her,” I begged.

She nodded and swallowed, then placed her hands on Jocelyn’s temples and closed her eyes.

Tendrils of white starlight drifted from Jocelyn to Luna, the magic wrapping around Luna’s wrists and...disappearing.

“Is her hair turning white?” Alek asked quietly.

“Looks like it,” I replied, noting that Luna’s already pale blonde locks were shifting to white strand by strand, and Jocelyn’s were changing back to lavender.