Chapter 62: The Calm Before the Storm

Claire’s POV

It wasn't a question.

I looked into his eyes and nodded.  

"I know the way Midnight Moon operates. I know their security. If anyone is going to breach it, I am."

There was a dense silence in the room.

The look on Derek's face turned hard. "It's too risky."

I stepped forward closer to him, my tone lowering.  

"This isn't about safety. It's about winning."

He gritted his teeth. He knew I was right, but I could see the fight going on in his eyes. He did not like the prospect of my getting injured again.

Rowan took a hard breath. "She's right, Derek. If we do it correctly, we may be able to get this done before it begins."

Derek's fists curled. He didn't speak. And then, after a moment, he nodded. "Okay. But I'm going with you."

That wasn't what I intended.

"Derek—"

He cut me off. "I'm not sending you in alone." His voice left no room for debate.

I exhaled, recognizing it was no good to dispute with him about this. "Then at daw,n we move."

There was a murmur of agreement around the table.

It was done.

We were going to end this.

The air was cool as we emerged just before dawn, the sky a deep violet with the last stars blinking out. Our small group—only eight of us—moved silently along the rocky ground, careful where we stepped as we climbed the ridge to Midnight Moon's stronghold.

With each step, memories came flooding back. This used to be my home. This is where I had been victimized, where I had run away. And here I was, coming back—not as a victim, but as something more.

Derek walked with me in silence, his footsteps light and precise. He'd hardly spoken since we left, but his presence steadied me.

We reached the ridge at the same time that the first light of dawn touched the horizon. From where we stood, we could see in detail the stronghold below.

It looked. Different.

The usual patrols were missing. The front gates, which should have been double-thick with guards, were half-opened.

Something was off.

Theo stooped beside me, his eyes narrowed. "This doesn't feel right.".

I nodded. It was too easy.

Derek's eyes contracted. "We go in with care. No mistakes."

We moved stealthily along the ridge, using the cover of tree leaves to hide our progress. Each step saw the weight in my chest grow heavier.

As we neared the outside walls, I signaled the others to wait and Derek and I crept ahead. I pressed a hand against the falling stone, my ears perked for noise.

Quiet.

I looked at Derek. "Where are they all?"

He didn't answer. He moved past me and peered through the ajar gate.

And froze.

I moved beside him, my stomach tightening.

In the stronghold, the courtyard was littered with bodies.

Not ours.

Their own.

Midnight Moon warriors, some still clutching their weapons, their throats slashed, their eyes locked in a look of horror at the betrayal.

I moved forward unevenly. "What the devil's going on here?"

Derek swept the carnage with an impassive gaze. "A coup."

Theo and the others trailed behind us, their footsteps uncertain.

Rowan was kneeling beside one of the corpses, his forehead furrowed. "These wounds… They were ambushed. They did not even have a chance to see it coming."

And suddenly realization hit me like a blow to the heart.

Jared.

I turned to Derek. "Midnight Moon was still under his control. He killed it.".

As I ended my words, there was a slow, mocking clap that ran through the courtyard.

I cinched every muscle in my frame.

Jared emerged from the shadows of the fortress.

He had changed form. Exhausted. Crazy eyes and bloody clothes that weren't his own.

He grinned. "You took too long."

Derek moved forward to shield me and placed himself between me and the chaos surrounding Jared at once. "What did you do?"

Jared gestured to the chaos surrounding him by throwing his arms wide to either side. "What you could not do, I did. I ended this fight before it could start. He talked in an unnervingly calm tone as if one were discussing the weather.".

I balled up my fists. "You murdered members of your race."

He flung his head to the side. "No, Claire. I murdered my enemies. The ones who had betrayed me. Thosewho believed they could take what was mine. Something almost evil darted across his eyes as they crossed over to me. "Including you."

Derek growled and stepped forward, but Jared remained where he was. He simply smiled more broadly.

Jared went on, "You came here for your final fight." You shall have one too. Not the sort you'd wish, though.

His words made me shiver unaccountably.

The ground then trembled beneath our feet before we could move.

There was a deafening explosion in the courtyard.

The walls of the fortress shook.

Dark black smoke billowed into the air on the far side of the fortress, and I spun around, my heart thumping against my chest.

Blasts followed each other, and the ground shook with each one.

A cold mocking sound was the laughter of Jared.

Derek's eyes widened. "You didn't."

Jared smiled. "Oh, but I did."

My breath caught.

He was demolishing the fortress.

He was digging us into the earth.

My heart pounded in my chest. I turned to Derek. "We have to get out." Now.

But the tower in the middle groaned before we could move afoot.

Then it started to collapse with a sound like thunder.

The last thing I heard was Jared’s voice, laced with venom.

“You wanted to end this, Claire? Let’s see if you make it out alive.”