The Enlightenment: Book 2 The Bloodmoon Wars (A Paranormal Shifter Series Prequel to Luna Rising)

by Sara Snow

  "We don't need to," I told him as he reached up and cupped my cheek. "If I can help you, I will, always. But—" His brow arched at that. "Do you regret it? Feeding on me, I mean. Or our kiss?"

  He ran his thumb under my lip as he squeezed my hand. "I don't regret a single thing we did. I care about you, Skye. A lot. And what happened between us was something I had thought about many, many times." His nostrils flared at that moment, and I looked away in embarrassment. He leaned forward and pressed his cheek to mine, his breath blowing hot against my ear. "Try not to get excited, Skye, or I won't be able to stop myself. And you need to rest."

  He moved so quickly I didn’t have time to prepare myself before he turned my head and pressed his lips to mine. This kiss wasn't gentle but filled with passion, and he held me by my neck to keep me close. I threw my arms over his shoulder as our kiss became more heated, but I hoped he could feel more than just my passion. I wanted him to feel my emotions, my gratitude for having him in my life. He tore himself away from me, and I held my breath as I saw his eyes go dark. They roamed over my face and down my body before he suddenly closed them and got up.

  “Rest,” he told me, his voice deeper than usual.

  "Wait," I said as I held his hand. He glanced down at me, but he had already turned the rest of his body toward the door, as if he couldn’t fully face me. "Stay," I whispered. "Just until I fall asleep. Please."

  He slowly turned back to me, his black eyes slowly returning to their normal color, and I scooted over on my bed to make room for him to lie down. After I was snuggled in his arms with my head on his chest, I wondered how he could ever think he'd scare me. I was a werewolf, with above average strength and skills, but I always felt a heightened sense of security with him around.

  “What do you think about Keith’s death?” I asked after a few moments of silence. If humans could randomly attack me, an adult werewolf, maybe those same men were responsible for Keith’s death too . . . although that wouldn’t explain how his blood had been completely drained. “Do you think the men who attacked me could have had something to do with it?”

  Cyrus hummed, the sound calming, and I closed my eyes. "I doubt that. It’s possible, of course—” He cleared his throat. “But I doubt it." He rested his chin on the top of my head. "I'm just really curious to know what could have drained him of his blood without leaving any sort of mark. I don't know of an earthly creature that can do that."

  “Maybe you should apply to become a Guard, with all these kills you have,” I joked, and his chest shook as he laughed.

  “A demon in the Werewolf Guard? I can definitely see that happening.” He kissed the top of my head. “As long as you and Elinor are safe, no one has to see the side of me you saw in the market. Go to sleep, Skye.”

  My eyes were tired and fell asleep almost instantly, knowing that no harm would come to me as long as Cyrus was around. I knew his mother wanted him to return to the Underworld, but I wouldn’t let him go so easily.

  5

  Will

  The wind howling outside sounded like the wailing of a woman in mourning. A sudden snowstorm appeared a few hours ago, but it wasn’t all that surprising, given the change in temperature from a few days earlier.

  With my heart currently beating and my skin warm, I could appreciate the heat from the fireplace I had lit. The first day I arrived here, I was confused—and overjoyed—to find a chimney in a vampire’s house. I later found out the owners added it just weeks after my visit to this coven was confirmed, even though I’d shown up early.

  I crossed my legs as I gazed into the fire, my eyes expertly tracking the flame as they danced. I had secretly dreaded the thought of coming to this coven, but if I hadn’t, I never would have met her.

  Elinor.

  I exhaled heavily as I clenched my fists. I had finally gotten the chance to taste her, to feel her . . . until that damn wolf interrupted us. As I recalled the way Elinor’s skin felt under my fingers, I closed my eyes. I swallowed as I thought about how her lips touched mine.

  My fangs ached with need—a need to taste more than just her lips.

  Shaking my head, I slowly opened my eyes. I took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the burning wood to rid myself of my thirst for her. I thought about the chaos it would cause—not only with her kind, but with mine as well—if anyone ever discovered our relationship. But even that thought hadn’t stopped me from seeing her.

  Over the past few weeks, my craving for her had grown even stronger. And though I recognized that a romantic relationship between us was impossible—she was the daughter of the Alpha and I, a high-ranked vampire among my kind—I just couldn’t stay away from her.

  I was not sure if knowledge of my noble birth would make her think of me any differently. Most people shunned vampires, considering us all to be monsters. And sure, when we first met, Elinor probably saw me that way too—though she hadn’t acted like it.

  The evening we met, I saw her as nothing but potential food—if I had been hungry, that was. But the way she had reacted to me was unusual. Despite recognizing exactly what I was, she hadn’t been afraid. She’d charmed me from the beginning.

  I shook my head as I smiled, the memory of me saving her from a newly-born Bleeder resurfacing in my mind. It had been that night that I realized just how different she was. Though she was young, she had spirit and not just strength.

  “Sir Hunter?”

  I looked over my shoulder to find a human servant standing by the door. “Yes, Violet? Come forward.”

  She smiled warmly as she entered the room and held out a letter to me, bowing slightly. "For you, sir."

  “Thank you,” I replied, watching as she walked away.

  That had been another surprise—and a refreshing one—at this property. It was unusual to see human servants who were actually servants and not slaves—or worse. Of course, in the basement, there were various supernaturals who’d been caught to be used as a food source for this coven, but I avoided that part of the estate. I was a vampire, yes, but an old one—an ancient one. I’d outgrown the cruelty of my kind long ago.

  I opened the letter, knowing full well whom it was from. I read it slowly, my irritation and anger increasing as I scanned through it. It contained certain directives that I planned to fully ignore.

  Leave it up to Mother to spoil my moment of peace, even from a distance.

  Ripping up the letter, I stood up and threw it into the fire. Just then, I heard footsteps approaching.

  “Who was that letter from?” a soft voice asked. But I simply stood there, my eyes glued to the flames as they consumed the parchment. “Will?”

  “No one, Vivian. It’s none of your concern.” I turned to face the attractive woman standing by the door, whose crimson hair cascading down to her ankles matched her blood-red eyes. She frowned at my sharp response.

  “Fine, then.” Sighing, she walked forward. “Are you okay, Will? I’ve been very worried about you. My father did his best to make our coven as comfortable for you as possible during your stay, but you’re always out somewhere. And when you’re here, you seem distant and distracted.”

  "We've never been close, Vivian, so how can I seem more distant? I'm only here because my mother requested that I stay with you while your father handles business out of the country. But you and I both know you don't need the protection. The locals have no clue there’s a vampire coven living right under their noses."

  “We’ve never been close, but that’s just one more reason we invited here you—so maybe, we could be. And you’re right, I don’t need protection. The supernaturals don’t know about us because we live peacefully with them. We only take what we need, as Father commands." Her eyes drifted to the fireplace, then she tilted her head, seeming to be listening to something. "Hearing that sound never gets old,” she chuckled. “You’re a vampire with a heartbeat, Will. You’re lucky you can enjoy life more than the rest of us."

  “You’re a hundred years old, Vivian. Your ancestors weren
’t even alive when I started making full use of my gifts,” I told her, and she arched her brow. Damn. Not that I disliked her, but there’d always been something about Vivian that rubbed me the wrong way. I could see a savagery behind her eyes that her father had to constantly keep in check. Sighing, I turned to the fire and clapped my hands, the air movement from the action causing the fire to go out in the blink of an eye. “Do you need help with anything right now?”

  “No,” she answered. “Are you leaving?”

  I nodded as I stepped around her. “I am, though I won’t be out long.”

  Her fingers wrapped around my elbow. "Many vampires might see you as an outcast because of your gift, but I don’t see it that way. We're family, Will. If there is ever anything bothering you, you can talk to me. Why have you been going out so much? Are you going to hunt? We have more than enough food here for you if you want it."

  “I’ll be back soon, Vivian.” I covered her hand with mine. “Okay?”

  She pulled her hand away as her red eyes flashed. “Okay, I get it. When are you leaving?”

  I turned away, leaving her standing there. If it was up to me, I would never have come here at all, so her sudden attitude change didn't faze me. There were very few vampires I got along with, and it had been that way since I'd first changed. Thankfully, I was not the savage beast I once was, and the old stories about me had mostly faded from memory.

  Now my only interest was in a spirited she-wolf who’d inconveniently wormed her way into my heart.

  “I have a few things to take care of first. I won’t be leaving for a while.”

  Elinor

  I waited until the snowstorm raging outside let up before venturing into the forest. Now that my father had finally left to meet with the other supernatural leaders, I could finally move more freely as well.

  I had gone into the forest twice hoping to see Will after our last meeting, but both times he was nowhere to be found. And escaping into the woods to search for him was becoming difficult—the guards patrolling our territory almost caught me both times. What was more frustrating, however, was that ever since Connor had claimed I came close to falling off that cliff, my father had been keeping a very close eye on me.

  As I made my way through the snow-covered forest, I wondered if he had believed I’d try to kill myself or some madness of the sort. Rolling my eyes, I stepped over an old rotten tree trunk. I could make out the sound of the water below the cliff, but I remained within the forest area, just in case the cliff was bring watched. But so far, I hadn’t sensed or smelled another wolf.

  Did my father really think I’d kill myself?

  “I might hate the idea of marrying Elijah, but I’m not about to end it all over that,” I mumbled to myself.

  “That’s good to know,” a voice said from behind me. I spun around to find Will casually leaning against a tree, his all-black attire contrasting with our snow-covered surroundings. I hadn’t even heard him approach—or smelled him, for that matter. Had I been too deep in thought to notice? I didn’t know. But I needed to be more careful in the future.

  I heard it immediately—his beating heart—and sighed. Whenever he appeared like this, with a beating heart and warm skin, his vampire scent seemed to vanish.

  “Where have you been?” I blurted out, and his lips curved with a smile.

  “You missed me?” he asked as he pushed himself off the tree and walked over to me.

  The memory of him above me in the cold grass not so long ago resurfaced, and my breath caught in my throat. But I wasn’t about to let him know that. So I rolled my eyes and turned away. "I just have a few questions I need answered."

  I listened to the sound of his footsteps behind me as I walked close to the tree line near the cliff. I needed to know what he did to Connor the other day. But more importantly, I needed to know if his kind were involved with Keith’s death, or the others’.

  Yet how could I go about asking him that without sounding as if I was accusing him, too? Or making him feel as if I was judging his kind? While vampires were undoubtedly savage hunters, particularly the Bleeders, they weren’t the only supernaturals capable of murder.

  I turned around. “Listen, I want you to—”

  His lips were on mine before I knew what was happening, and my mind went blank for a moment. All the questions I wanted to ask disappeared when I felt his hands rest on my hips. He pulled me closer to him, and I sighed at the warmth of his hold. My arms acted on their own, throwing themselves over his shoulders as I dove my fingers into his hair.

  His hair was like silk, and his lips tasted divine. His body felt like a mountain of muscles.

  Then I had a sudden thought that had me pulling myself out of his arms. If he had controlled Connor with his mind, was there a chance he was doing the same thing to me? Compulsion, I’d heard it called.

  “Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to kiss women without asking?”

  He shrugged. “I’ve seen her kiss many women without permission, then rip out their throats, so I guess my mother hasn’t exactly been the best role model on manners.” My eyes widened for a moment, and he chuckled. “I missed you too, Little Wolf, but I was . . . occupied.”

  “That wasn’t funny,” I grumbled.

  He shrugged. “Wasn’t there something you wanted to ask me?”

  I was all too happy to change the subject. “What did you do to Connor that night? You spoke to him, and suddenly he thought I had almost fallen over the cliff, instead of remembering what had really happened. What did you do?”

  “Right,” he drawled. “Of course, you’d be curious about that. I compelled him to forget what he saw, that’s all.” He looked towards the cliff behind me. “Not all vampires are capable of compulsion. It takes decades of practice.”

  “Decades?” I asked, and his eyes drifted back to mine.

  He tilted his head to the side, his black hair almost blending into the darkness behind him. "Yes, decades. I'm centuries old, Elinor. I was alive when this little town was still just a vast forest. Does that bother you?”

  “Doesn’t it bother you? I’m just a baby to you, compared to you,” I answered, shaking my head and trying not to grin. “Shame on you.”

  His face twisted with disgust. “Don’t make this weird.”

  I chuckled at his discomfort, happy that I'd finally found something that truly irritated him. "It’s hard to imagine what it’d be like to have lived so long," I said truthfully as he reached out and took a lock of my hair between his fingers. I quickly slapped his hand. "No touching."

  "I thought you liked it when I touched you, Elinor. You make the most adorable sounds.” He chuckled as he walked around me, circling me once before stopping in front of me once more. He leaned forward to kiss me again, but this time I was prepared. I pulled away, causing his lips to only brush against mine. But somehow, even that slight touch had my body heating.

  I quickly changed the subject again, telling him about the string of murders in the area. “Anyway, the boy from my pack who was killed? He wasn’t the first,” I said. “There were other supernaturals, from other towns, who were murdered the same way. But so far, the Werewolf Guards haven’t been able to find out anything. Is there any chance you might know something about what’s going on?”

  "Why would I know about that?" His eyes narrowed, and I could see the walls going up behind his eyes. A humorless chuckle left his lips. "You think I had something to do with it, don't you?"

  I shook my head. “No. But all the victims had their blood drained, and there was no mark. That’s not normal, Will. But I was only asking if you knew or had heard anything that could help me. Someone, or something, killed a boy from my pack. I’m only trying to find who did it.”

  “You’re not a Guard,” he argued, and I clenched my fists. His words stung more than he’d ever know.

  “Wow, really, I didn’t know that. Thanks for pointing that out.” I took a deep breath. “What I’m trying to say, Will, is that Keith won�
�t be the last victim. People are getting killed.”

  He brushed his knuckles against his chin, and his tongue darted out to wet his lips. "I understand, Elinor, and I can see why you might suspect a vampire if people are turning up drained of their blood. The thing is—" He held a finger up. "Vampires don't do that often, unless they are a newborn. We have the same organs that you all do, which means our stomachs can't hold all that blood. So, when you find a drained body, you know a very young vampire who lacks control over their bloodlust is behind it."

  “And the lack of bite marks? Can a vampire do that?”

  He looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking his head. “No, a vampire must bite his or her victim. We can heal the wounds of whoever we bite, but that doesn’t work once a person is dead and drained of their blood. A vampire isn’t the one doing this.”

  I closed my eyes, pressing the pads of my fingers against them. “Okay then. My pack’s Enchanted had a vision of Keith the night he died.” My hand fell away from my face. “She heard hissing.”

  Will’s blue eyes suddenly changed to red as he reached out and grabbed my arm firmly. I held my hand out to push against his chest, but he turned his back to me. I blinked with confusion. “Come out,” he hissed into the darkness. “Now.”

  I peeped out from behind him and saw a towering form materializing out of thin air. My eyes widened as I stared at Cyrus in his demon form. The black marks on his body were drifting as his bright eyes slid from Will to me and then back.

  “Cyrus?” I stepped out from behind Will, but he quickly grabbed my hand.

  “Do you know this demon, Elinor?” he asked, and Cyrus’s eyes changed to red.

  “You have two seconds to step away from her,” Cyrus growled, and I sighed as my shoulders slumped.

  Here we go again.

  6

  Elinor